OK. I laugh. Gotta get dressed. I wash my face and brush my hair, tying it back into a ponytail. Then I put on his t-shirt that I came home in the other day—God, it still smells like him—and slip into an old faded pair of jeans. My biker boots and an old leather jacket that jingles with silver zippers complete the outfit.
It’s a tease. When I put the leather lingerie on tonight he will see I was teasing him. This makes me smile. Like I’ve got a secret and he won’t know it until later. I look at myself in the hallway mirror, checking my lipstick real fast, and then peek out the window. It’s been a little over an hour, so he’s late.
What if he doesn’t come?
Calm down, Molly. He’ll be here. After all that sweet stuff he said to me earlier, God, I just know he’s my soulmate. Lincoln Wade is the only man for me.
A text comes through on my phone, and I run into the kitchen to dig it out of my purse.
Running late. Meet me at the maze.
Maze. Hmm. The one behind the cathedral. What could he have planned? I blush thinking of the wild sex we had last night, and my gaze involuntarily wanders to the stairs. He licked my * on those stairs.
God, I hope he fucks me in that maze again. Only this time, we need to take our time and do it right.
I text back, On my way.
I head to the front door, car keys in hand. But when I look down at them, I spot the key to Will’s bike. Yeah, I think, jingling the keys. The bike. It totally goes with the outfit. I shrug my purse across my chest, step into the garage, and pull the house door closed behind me. Just last weekend the mere thought of these bikes made me so sad I was making lists and now, well, I can’t wait to get on one.
I open the garage door, shove the key into the ignition, and grab the orange helmet.
It feels like old times. Back when I was part of the show. I never did fancy tricks like Will, or daredevil tricks like my dad. But I was part of the show. I rode my bike in the cage with them. Even my mom was part of the cage. All four of us riding round and round in that metal sphere, criss-crossing each other. It was choreographed to the music, so we knew exactly where we had to be for each beat. It was scary for me as a young girl, but it was my life.
The bikes will always be part of my life and I love that Lincoln has them in his life too.
I swing my leg over the seat and jump down on the kick-start. It roars to life, filling the garage with the sound of the past and filling me up with hope for the future as I take off down the street.
Chapter Forty-Four - Lincoln
“Fuck that, Thomas. This plan is over. Atticus fucked it all up and now Molly knows that Blue Boar asshole is her real father.”
“Who cares?” Brooks actually looks bewildered. “She has nothing to do with any of this. She’s a happy accident, Lincoln.”
“Wow,” I say. “I’m not sure if I’m surprised. You never did give a fuck about her.”
“She’s still alive, isn’t she?” Thomas snarls at me. “Obviously I cared enough.”
I feel the rage. The heat pours through my hands as I take in the full meaning of that comment. I picture pushing Molly out of that window and telling her to run away all by herself. The fear in her eyes. That flimsy fucking nightgown because I was so sure Thomas would come upstairs and find us, there was no time to let her change. “I said I’m out,” I snarl back at him.
“You’re not in charge here, Lincoln. You do as you’re told.”
“OK, you guys,” Case says. “We need to calm down. Lincoln, Molly doesn’t have anything to do with this job. It sucks that she’s involved, but—”
“You,” I say to Case, “you of all people are gonna stand here and talk sense after what he did that night? Are you fucking kidding me, Case? He took everything with him when he left. Or has that little detail slipped your mind?”
It was the right button to push for Case. We’re not talking about the same night. That night when I pushed Molly out the window, that was the night of fucking over Lincoln. But the night Thomas stole that girl from Case was the same shit, different date.
Case is silent, staring me in the eyes. I know how his mind works and I can see it spinning. “He doesn’t care, Case. He just can’t have his little news conference if we leave.”
“Fuck you, Lincoln,” Thomas says.
I drag my eyes back to Thomas. “It’s true. You’re a freak, Thomas. You’ve never attached to anyone. Not even us, though you try to talk the talk. Loyalty, brotherhood, revenge. All these words are just triggers for Case and me. To keep us in line. But they don’t have any meaning to you, do they?”
“I’m doing this for all of us.”
“You’re doing this for you. You don’t give one fuck about me, or Case, or hell, even Molly. If you had your way, she’d be dead. I bet your girl is dead, Case. Did he ever tell you where he sent them?”
Case looks at Thomas like he’d kill him right now, no questions asked, if only he was able. I feel a little bad about the last remark. We all know the girl isn’t dead, because we all know Thomas doesn’t do his own dirty work. That’s why he needs me. But who’s to say he doesn’t have another me stashed away somewhere?