Resurrection (The Lone Riders MC Series Book 3) by Michelle Betham

she whispered, watching him as he raised his gaze, their eyes locking. She couldn’t fight whatever was going on. She couldn’t stop it from happening. She wanted it to go away, to end, of course she did – whatever crap was going down, she wanted it to end. She wanted everything to go back to normal – their kind of normal, anyway – but it wasn’t going to. Not until this, whatever it was, was over. She knew that. ‘You have to do what you have to do. You all do.’ What choice did she have? Ben wasn’t the safe, ordinary lawyer she’d fallen for. He wasn’t the man she’d first thought he was. He had a past, and it would seem that past was now becoming a part of his present, for whatever reason. But at least it explained his mood change.
    ‘Aye.’ Coby’s voice was so quiet Mia struggled to hear him. ‘Aye. I guess we do.’
    Their eyes remained locked, and she couldn’t seem to break the stare; couldn’t look away. ‘I should probably go.’ She finally pulled her eyes away from Coby’s, ending whatever strange moment that had been. ‘I could do with an early night. It’s been a weird day.’
    She slid down from the workbench, and was about to head out of the garage when Coby gently took hold of her wrist, swinging her back around to face him. ‘I’m here for you, Mia. Remember that… I’m here, for all of you.’
    It almost felt as though he’d hurriedly tacked that last bit on to the end of that sentence.
    ‘I know.’ Mia smiled, but she just wanted to get out of there now. She longed for the safety of her bed, and a sleep she knew she needed. Maybe everything would look better after a good night’s sleep. Isn’t that what everyone said? Things always looked different in the morning.
    Their eyes met for a few more, brief seconds, but then Mia pulled her arm from his grasp, turned around, and walked out. Yeah. Everything would look different in the morning. But just how different… that’s what scared her.

Eleven
     
     
    ‘I need you to promise me that none of that personal crap – none of it spills over into this, OK?’ Coby wasn’t in the mood for any shit. He was in the mood to get things done, and he wanted them done quickly.
    Kip leaned back against the wall, folding his arms. ‘What personal crap you talking about here?’
    And that was exactly the kind of shit Coby wasn’t in the mood for.
    He fixed Kip with a cold look. ‘I know you still have feelings for Mia…’
    ‘Jesus Christ!’ Kip threw back his head, sighing loudly. ‘Not this again. She’s my fucking sister!’
    ‘You still have feelings for her, and I know – I know, Kip – that you still don’t entirely trust Ben.’
    ‘Do you ? I mean, what you’re asking him to do… It’s fraught with possibilities for him to turn against us , you do realize that, don’t you?’
    Coby looked back down at the table, turning the gavel over and over in his hand. ‘He won’t turn against us.’
    ‘You can guarantee that, can you?’
    ‘We know what happened between him and his father now, Kip. We know his history…’
    ‘All of it?’
    Coby slowly raised his gaze, but he stayed silent.
      ‘You back off from any personal vendetta you might still harbor for our new boy; do you hear me, Kip? Let him get on with what he needs to do.’
    ‘And if he pulls this off? If he manages to persuade Hector Almeda to take him back into the fold, what happens to Mia then?’
    ‘She’ll need to back off, too. She can’t be seen with him, not when he’s wearing the Dark Angels’ colors. It’s too risky. Too dangerous.’
    ‘Does she know all this?’
    ‘She knows Ben’s working on something. But she’ll need to be told the truth, if everything goes to plan.’ Coby fixed Kip with another look. ‘But that doesn’t give you an excuse to move in and start any personal crap, do you understand?’
    ‘I’m her brother, Coby. I don’t have those kinds of feelings for her anymore.’
    ‘You sure about