The Last Riders: Shade's Fall Part 14

Lily didn't have a temper, but when it was roused, he was usually the cause, and she'd had enough of him deciding what was best for her. It was a good thing he was driving or Lily would have jumped from the truck.

The closer they came to Treepoint, the madder she became at him. She didn't even have her car so that she could drive back to school. She would be forced to have Beth take her back, which she was certain was what he had planned.

When he finally pulled up in front of her house, Lily's hand immediately flew to the doork.n.o.b.

Sliding out of the truck, she shot Shade a hateful glance. "Enjoy your Friday night!" She slammed the door, turning toward the house, sick at her behavior.

She opened the house's front door and was about to shut it when a hand prevented her. Shade propelled her forward with a hand on her arm, shutting the door behind them.

"What are you doing?" Lily tried to jerk away, dropping her backpack.

"Doing something I've warned you repeatedly about," Shade said grimly.

He jerked her to the couch where he took a seat then yanked her over his lap.

"What!"

The smack across her b.u.t.t caught her by surprise. He had threatened several times, but she had never thought he would actually lay a hand on her.

She tried to throw herself off his lap, yet his hand on her back prevented her. She kicked her legs, which earned her another smack across her bottom. She was wearing a dress, which was sliding dangerously high with her lying over his lap. She was mortified and angrier than ever all at the same time.

"You can't do this!" Lily screamed at him.

"Watch me."

His hand swatted her b.u.t.t several more times until Lily stopped struggling and lay limply across his thighs, defeated. When he was done, he lifted her to sit next to him on the couch, gripping her jaw in his hand.

"Do not ever talk to me that way again. Do not slam doors to show your anger and throw me a f.u.c.king look like the one you did, or I will smack your a.s.s with no dress and panties in the way. Do you understand me?"

Lily tried to turn her face away, her lashes hiding her eyes. She was embarra.s.sed at her childish behavior. "I understand."

"How do you f.u.c.king address me?"

"I understand, Sir."

As his hand released her jaw, Shade got to his feet, going out the door without another word.

Lily sat there for several minutes, wis.h.i.+ng she hadn't lost her temper. In a matter of minutes, Shade had ripped her icy detachment away, leaving her raw and hurting.

Any woman who wanted his vote needed her head examined.

Chapter 12.

Lily had dinner waiting for Beth and Razer when they came through the door. She could tell they weren't surprised to see her, which wasn't all that shocking.

They ate dinner with Beth asking about her cla.s.ses. Lily answered her questions, but she continued to keep the barrier between them; the same barrier she had put up against Razer.

While Beth was trying to be over friendly, Razer made no attempt to hide his anger at her. Lily didn't blame him, either. It was obvious Beth was hurting. Lily just couldn't reach out to her yet.

After dinner, Lily got up to clean the table.

"I'll help."

"I've got it. You go ahead and get ready."

Beth looked her in the eye while Razer put his arm around her shoulder.

"Go, Beth. There's no reason to sit around the house, bored to death. Besides, I have a test to study for."

"I don't want to go," Beth said.

Lily sighed, ignoring Razer's angry glare. This was between Beth and her, and while he was angry, it was up to them to settle the problem.

Lily sat back down at the table, facing the couple, doing what she hadn't been capable of doing a couple of weeks ago. Her buried emotions allowed her to discuss the situation detachedly.

"Beth, you enjoy being a member of The Last Riders and their lifestyle. That's your personal business. That's what I tried to tell Miranda about Kaley. You should never take what I think or feel into consideration when it's something you want to do."

"Lily-" Beth protested.

"I am not a child any longer. I have to become more self-sufficient without you, as you are without me." Her fingertips went to the rubber band on her wrist.

The couple didn't say anything this time, listening.

"I think it's best, after your house is built, we sell this house and you keep the money. I have several job applications in and enough money saved up from working this summer that I can rent an apartment."

"Sweetheart, I'm not selling your home," Beth said firmly.

"It's not my home; it's your home. You worked and paid off our parents' debt. You've paid for this house. It's yours."

"It's ours."

Lily shook her head, getting to her feet. "I don't have a home."

"Are you deliberately trying to hurt her?" Razer snapped.

"I'm not trying to hurt Beth, Razer. I'm trying to set her free."

Lily went upstairs, leaving the couple staring at each other.

When she came back down later to study, Beth and Razer were still home despite Lily's protests. She made herself stay downstairs, studying at the kitchen table. She didn't want them to feel like she was avoiding them.

She had trouble concentrating, thinking about Shade at the clubhouse. She was constantly flipping the band on her wrist when her thoughts would inadvertently go to him.

Finally giving up, she said goodnight and went to bed.

The next morning she was dressed and gone before Razer and Beth could wake. She left a note that said she was going to the church.

She got there early enough that Rachel hadn't arrived yet. Lily felt guilty seeing that Rachel had made good progress on sorting through the donations without her.

She started going through several boxes, managing to empty several before she heard Rachel coming in the door.

"Well, h.e.l.lo, Lily."

"Hi, Rachel." Lily smiled without her usual warmth.

"I'm glad you're here. I don't mind the work, but it's not fun talking to myself."

"I'm sorry I left you in a lurch. I should have told Pastor Dean and made arrangements for someone to replace me."

Rachel looked at her curiously. "Beth said you went back to school and she offered to help, but I told her no. She keeps busy enough. Pastor Dean offered to find someone else, but I was too afraid of who he would replace you with." Rachel shuddered in mock horror.

Lily couldn't blame her; some of the women from the church would be hard to be around for several hours at a time.

"Well, I'm here today," Lily said, trying to infuse enthusiasm in her voice.

They worked steadily for the next few hours before going to the diner for lunch. They returned to work again after the short break.

"How's school going?"

"Good," Lily replied, opening a box of clothing.

"I thought you had decided to stay home your last semester?"

"I changed my mind," Lily replied.

"Did you and Beth get in a fight?" Rachel asked in surprise.

"Not exactly."

"I'm sorry. It seems I'm always prying. I need to learn to mind my own business."

"You're not prying. I just decided to stay at school and give Razer and Beth the alone time they need. I'm sure it gets old having me around all the time." Sometimes the truth was the hardest thing to take when it involved oneself.

"I don't think Beth feels that way at all. She misses you when you're gone. I saw her last week and she looked terrible, and you don't look much better. I can tell you've lost weight." Rachel's concern for both sisters was evident.

"I'll adjust." Lily shrugged off her own feelings.

Beth had a whole clubhouse of friends and a husband. She was better off without Lily being so dependent on her time and finances.

"I'm sure you will," Rachel said doubtfully then went on to talk about how she could use some s.p.a.ce from her brothers. "I want to get an apartment in town, but they keep putting me off."

Rachel's brothers were very protective of her.

"I don't suppose you would take one off my hands," Rachel pleaded. "All three are still single," she reminded Lily.

Lily laughed, shaking her head.

"Oh, well, I like Holly. Maybe I can convince her."

They spent the rest of the afternoon plotting matches for her three brothers as they steadily sorted through the boxes.

Lily was taking a drink of water when Rachel came up with a surprising choice.

"Miranda's sister's divorce became final. I can see her with Greer."

Lily choked on her water and Rachel patted her on the back.

"I think Kaley is seeing someone," Lily told her.

"Darn. Who's she seeing?"

"One of The Last Riders," Lily answered, wis.h.i.+ng Rachel would drop the conversation.

"Really? Which one?"

It was everything Lily could do not to say all of them; instead, she said the ladylike thing. "I'm not sure which one."

"Maybe it's not serious?"

"I think it's pretty serious," Lily said between gritted teeth.

"Oh, well. How about..."

Lily zoned out, losing track of the conversation as her mind played out visions of Shade and Kaley together.

"Lily, are you all right? You just went as white as a ghost," Rachel asked, stretching out to touch her arm.

"I'm fine." Reaching down, she picked up a box, moving away before Rachel could touch her.

At the end of the day, Lily told Rachel she would see her next week then walked home, refusing Rachel's offer of a ride.

She had just begun to cross the street to get to her block when a loud screech of tires sounded and Lily froze as a black car sped toward her. The next second, she went flying when a person pushed her out of the way. She lay on the pavement with the wind knocked out of her, her palms and knees burning. She turned to see the car speeding down the street then turning another corner.

"Motherf.u.c.ker." Lily looked up in shock at the profanity coming from the man who had saved her life.

"Are you all right, Lily?" Pastor Dean's voice didn't sound like it did on Sundays in church, nor was the harsh expression the same affable one that she was used to seeing.

"I think so." Lily took his hand, getting shakily to her feet. He then helped her to the sidewalk after picking up her purse from the middle of the road.

"Whoever was in that car was going so fast I didn't even see them when I started to cross the street," Lily said, brus.h.i.+ng her messed-up hair out of her face.

"That's because they were parked," Pastor Dean replied grimly. "I was coming out of Mr. Isaac's house when I saw the car wasn't going to stop."