Mason:Inked Reapers MC(18)

"You ride with me." Jayson grabbed my arm when I started to walk toward  another member. I didn't resist him-no point. He pointed to his bike, a  silent dictate to stay put, and walked off to finish barking out orders.  Taking a chance, I looked across the courtyard and found Mason still  staring at me. His eyes were still shielded, but the energy of his anger  displayed openly with his tight grip on his bike, his pursed lips. I  imagined what sort of cold glare he was emitting from behind the glasses  and that alone sent a shiver down my spine.



"Looks like your boyfriend isn't thrilled about something." Lucas walked  up to me with a cocky grin. "Looks like he wants to rip Jayson in two."



I tore my gaze from Mason and tried to look casual. "Who are you talking about?"



Lucas laughed. "That man has it bad for you, baby girl. But Jayson's set  on you sticking around. I don't envy your position. And I'm not sure I  can protect you if Mason decides to put a claim on you."



"Claim?" It was my turn to laugh. "No one's claiming me, Lucas. So, don't worry."



Lucas looked me up and down with those steely blue eyes of his and shook  his head. He put his helmet on, leaving the straps dangling down his  cheeks. "You've been with us for months now, Lucy, you know how this  works. You can promise yourself it will be different for you, that  you'll just pay back whatever Jayson asks and you'll go, but you know  that's not gonna happen. Not with Jayson. He's not that kind of guy."



It was my turn to study Lucas. He wasn't telling me anything I didn't  already know, deep down, buried away. I knew it was the truth. But I  couldn't let it sink in. I had to get away from that club, both clubs. I  wanted my life back.



"And you? You're good with this? Him holding me prisoner? Now you're  talking like he's never letting me go. If I leave, what'll happen? The  same that happened to Kerri? What's so important about me?"



Lucas's eyes didn't betray his thoughts, and Jayson rounded his way back  to us before I could push him to answer. "Let's go. I need to get out  of this fucking place." He swung his fat leg over the bike and motioned  for me to follow suit. Once seated behind him, I grabbed his jacket,  earning me a laugh. "Put your arms around me, babe. Safety." I put the  helmet on that he handed me and did as he instructed. As soon as my arms  were where he wanted them, he waved to Lucas and revved his engine. The  ass made a wide turn around, driving us right past Mason.



I closed my eyes and wished myself away. Anywhere else. Just away.





CHAPTER FIFTEEN



MASON





Feeling the vibrations of my bike while driving down a long stretch of  road usually soothed my nerves, lulled me into a peaceful place. Not  today. Not when all I could think about was Lucy sitting behind that  fucking pig on his bike. I barely slept after seeing her dragged into a  room with that Mexican, Bernardo. And after that I had to watch her get  on a bike with Jayson.                       
       
           



       



Tick kept me from driving over to them and ripping her off, throwing her  across my bike, and hauling ass out of town. It wasn't time, we weren't  ready. Hell, we only just started to talk about getting out.



No one left the Reapers easily. It could be done; hell, we weren't some  gangbanging fucks. But it wasn't easy. Because once you left, you  couldn't come back. We needed to not only get the okay to get out, but  we needed to leave in good standing or we'd be fucked. A good way to do  that was money. Buying our out. To do that, we needed cash. A lot of it.



The run with the cartel, it was pretty profitable. I had to give Marcus  that much credit. The last payday dished out twice as much cash as what  went into my pocket the month before. A few more runs and I'd be able to  start thinking seriously about my future. Lucy's future.



That pixie wouldn't get out of my fucking head, and I was starting to  resolve myself to the idea she wouldn't be going anywhere either. Did I  want her to get out? Not one girl in my life ever stuck around in my  mind long enough to get to know her, but Lucy was different. Could I see  myself settling down, having a wife, a kid or two? Fuck, would I even  know how to be a dad? I never had one. My mom did well enough, tried as  best she could, but I had nothing to compare to.



Hell, Lucy deserved better. She didn't come from this life, this was  just a pit stop for her. A stroke of bad luck landed her where she was,  and I couldn't pretend that didn't matter. It did. For both of us.



After rolling for over an hour, Tick motioned for the next turn off. We  had to pick up the truck and get back on the road. Three more hours at  least until we made the pick up, and the Disciples were riding ahead to  keep the passage safe. Jasper was stuck with the Disciples while Tick  and I joined the small handful of our own guys on the exit ramp. I  didn't like the increase of the load without the increase in protection  any more than Tick did, but we had to make do with what we were given.  It wasn't like we had many choices at the moment.



"This is the place?" I pulled my bike up to Tick.



"Yeah." He looked at his phone again, then up at the sign on what looked like an abandoned building. "This is it."



"It's right on the highway." I jerked my thumb. The building could be  seen from the main road, and it didn't look like there were any back  entrances. "Let's go round back." We rode through the lot and rounded  the building. No access roads, just more empty land.



Tick parked and started looking around. "There's no one here." He  checked his phone for the time and then cursed. "Where the fuck is the  truck and Bernardo's guys?"



I grabbed my phone and dialed Marcus.



"Was the bbq cancelled?" I asked, rolling my eyes at Marcus's code words.



"No. Did you get the address wrong?"



"Fuck no. We're here, no burger grilling though."



"Fuck. Give me ten." The click of the line echoed in my ears. I looked between Tick and Burner.



"Get Jasper and tell them to turn the fuck around." I tried to get  Marcus back on the line while Tick started to do that. The call went  straight to voicemail.



"Nothing. Voicemail." Tick shook his head. "He knows to keep his shit  open while he's with those assholes. We should have sent two of our  guys. Who gives a fuck what that Bernardo said, he's not running this  shit on this road."



My phone vibrated in my hand and I answered right away. "Marcus?"



"Get back on the highway. Three exits down, then get off. The party was  moved. Once you're off the highway, go three miles down the dirt road,  house on the left."



"Got it. Have you heard from Jasper?"



"No. Get going." He hung up again.



"Looks like they moved the pick up."



"Right. Just happened to move it since we talked yesterday." Tick revved  his bike. "Fuck those guys. Who's fucking with us, Disciples or the  cartel?"



"Does it really matter?" I snapped my helmet strap and rode off around the building, heading back to the highway.



I didn't trust the Disciples, and I sure as fuck didn't have any love  for the cartel bastards, but throwing us off schedule didn't serve  anyone's purpose as far as I could see. Why was the pick up changed?



When we finally arrived at the new location, the truck was sitting pretty waiting for us. The



driver sat in the cab with the door open and a handful of his buddies stood outside the truck glaring at us as we rode up to it.                       
       
           



       



"Sorry, the location was changed on us," I greeted the men. The driver  nodded, but the others said nothing. I doubted they spoke much English,  and I spoke about a word in Spanish.



"We're late now. Let's go." The driver wiped his forehead with a  handkerchief and stuffed it back in his jeans. He looked down at his men  and rattled off some instructions in Spanish.



Once we were ready to go, I sent Marcus a quick message letting him know  the pick up was complete and we were heading out. Tick had a weird look  on his face, the same he got when something didn't sit right with him. I  tried to get his attention, but he shook his head, probably trying to  shake off the feeling.



The highway was pretty empty. Not many people headed the way we were  going. Nothing touristy or exciting to see. Just a whole lot of  nothingness really. So when the first cop car passed us, I took notice  pretty quickly. Tick saw the cruiser, too, and sped up to get in front  of the truck.



We hadn't heard anything from Jasper about trouble up ahead, so we  pressed on, but I kept an eye out for any other cruisers. When the  second one passed us, I gave a worried glance over at Tick. He sped up  ahead, leaving our little train behind. Fuck.