Shade released her. "Enough?"

"Yes." Lily turned around, sliding away from him.

"We'll work on that until you get it right. You need to learn how to defend yourself when someone comes up behind you. Men who attack women are confident that you'll panic, that you'll be too startled to be able to defend yourself."

"I'll work on it until I get it right." Lily was going to prove to him that she could break that hold.

"I know you will. You're learning fast. I'm proud of you," Shade complimented.

Lily took his praise to heart. "Thank you, Sir." Lily reached out and hugged him. She hugged Beth all the time; it was part of her personality to show her affection. "I really appreciate all your help."

Lily turned away from him, missing the hungry expression on his face.

"I'll get changed." Lily walked away, so happy that she hadn't panicked twice. She was learning to be more capable of defending herself. For a woman who had a history of misadventures, it was a big thing for her to become more confident in the world around her instead of seeing ghosts around every corner.

Lily didn't take long to change; she would shower when she got home, and Shade was waiting for her in the other room when she came out. The noise coming from upstairs was even louder than normal as she made her way across the room. Her eyes traveled up the steps to the closed door.

"It sounds like a football game is going on up there," she remarked.

"Several of the brothers from Ohio are down for the weekend."

"Oh." Lily tried not to sound disappointed, certain that with his friends visiting that Shade wouldn't hang out with her this weekend. She had gotten used to having him around.

She had talked to Charles, telling him as gently as possible that he was a friend, and would always remain just a friend. He had taken it well, but Lily believed that he hoped she would eventually change her mind. She wouldn't, and since she had told him, she didn't feel right asking for him to spend time with her. She had the sinking feeling that it was going to be a lonely weekend.

Shade was walking her out the door when his cell phone rang. He listened for a minute before he replied to whoever had called.

"Give me five. I need a shower and to get changed." He then disconnected the call.

"You go ahead," Lily told him, not wanting to keep him from his fun.

"You sure?"

"My car is just around the corner," Lily said dolefully.

"All right. I'll see you later," Shade said, going back inside.

"Bye."

Lily walked down the path toward her car, checking her text messages to see that Beth had left her one saying that she and Razer had left for the party early and that they would see her tomorrow. She saw Razer's bike already parked in the almost-full parking lot.

She placed her bag in the backseat of her car and was about to get inside when a car swerved into the parking lot. Lily recognized it instantly. Leaving her car door open, she saw Miranda getting out of her car, slamming her door shut before going up the steps to the house.

"Miranda!" Lily yelled, drawing her attention.

Miranda didn't stop. Lily ran after her, catching her halfway up the steps.

"What's going on?" Lily asked, taking her arm.

"Don't you dare talk to me, Lily, after you have lied to my face!" Miranda spat out, trying to pull away from Lily's grip.

"What have I lied about?" Lily questioned, sincerely confused.

"The whole time I told you that I've been worried about Kaley, you knew that she's been here every day and the weekends, too."

Lily hadn't tried to hide that Kaley was here constantly, she just hadn't volunteered the information, and Miranda had never outright asked for it.

"I knew, but I didn't want to b.u.t.t into her private business," Lily tried to defend herself.

"You're no friend of mine, Lily. Georgia saw me at the store, telling me that she's seen her here drunk and doing G.o.d knows what, and you didn't say a thing."

"I've never seen her drunk," Lily protested.

"Why would I believe you? You're one of them. Your sister is in there right now. Well, you might not care about your sister, but I do mine." She rushed up the steps.

Lily didn't know what to do. Twisting her hands, she now regretted not mentioning to Miranda that Kaley had been there so frequently; however, she had truly believed it was Kaley's private business.

Lily was relieved when she looked up to see that Miranda had been blocked from entering the house. Several men were standing in front of the door, watching them curiously as Miranda stormed back down the steps.

Lily turned to go, but Miranda took a sharp turn, walking across the hilly yard to the path that led around the house and disappearing around the corner.

Lily wished she hadn't left her phone in the car; she could have called Beth. Not knowing what else to do, she followed Miranda.

"Miranda!" The woman's fury made her fast. Lily ran behind her, trying to stop her from making a scene that she would regret, yet she couldn't catch her. The back door that led into the kitchen was open, so Lily ran in behind the disappearing woman. Several eyes from the family room were turned to the other room where Lily could hear raised voices already.

As she moved further into the house, she had expected to see a party atmosphere, and there was, just not the type she had antic.i.p.ated. Several of the women were in a state of undress. Kaley was rising up from one of the couches next to Cash. Her top was completely off, her skirt was hiked to her waist and she wasn't wearing underwear. Her sister had caught them actually having s.e.x in the open. And they hadn't been the only ones.

Several women were covering themselves, pulling on clothes. Those who did have on clothes were the type Lily had never seen them wearing before.

She was instantly grateful that everyone's backs were to her as she watched Miranda and Kaley have it out.

"You s.l.u.t. This would kill Mom if she knew what you were doing," Miranda screamed at her sister.

"Make sure you run and tell her," Kaley yelled back.

"How could you f.u.c.k someone in front of all these people?" Miranda sounded horrified at her sister.

"Look around you, dumba.s.s. I wasn't the only one f.u.c.king. I was doing it because it felt good. I've had more d.i.c.k in the last two months than I had in five years of marriage and I f.u.c.king love it. In fact, you might as well know that I'm joining their club as soon as I finish f.u.c.king all the head members."

"What!?" Miranda screeched.

"That's how you get in. You have to f.u.c.k six of the eight original members. But I plan on f.u.c.king them all," Kaley bragged.

Miranda reached out, smacking her sister across the face as they went into a full-fledged cat fight.

Lily stood frozen, unable to move for a second, unaware that whimpers were escaping her mouth. That was when Razer and Viper came running down the steps with Beth and Winter behind them. Both women looked like they had just thrown their clothes on. Beth was wearing a short skirt and a fringed vest that Lily had never seen before and would never have expected her sister to wear.

Lily wasn't even aware that all the eyes in the room weren't on Miranda and Kaley but her. She was too lost in taking in what Kaley had said. She understood Miranda's shock because she was experiencing it herself. In fact, she was so stunned that she couldn't even turn away as Jewell began scrambling into her shorts at the same time that Stori was pushing Nickel away, breaking his hold on her bared b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

"Lily." Beth came down the steps, speaking to her sister quietly.

Lily took a step backwards into the kitchen, and the door to her side opened. Evie came to an abrupt stop when she saw Lily. She wasn't wearing a top and her blue jean shorts had been left unb.u.t.toned. She moved to the side, obviously uncomfortable, and Rider came into view, walking up the steps without a shirt and wearing only his jeans. His hair was wet and his face froze at her expression. He moved to the side and Lily's eyes met Shade's. He had changed; his hair was just as wet, but he was dressed.

His face hardened when he saw her pale one and he approached her. Taking a step toward her, Beth was as white as a ghost as Lily backed away from them. They both tried to speak at the same time, but her whimpers of pain wouldn't let her hear their words.

Lily ran, unable to bear what her mind was telling her.

"Lily!" She heard Shade running after her and Beth's pleading voice, yet she couldn't stop. She had to get away.

She flew down the path, almost falling down several times. She sensed that Shade was close to reaching her as she screamed all the way to her car, barely managing to get in, slam the door shut and lock it before she felt him try to open the door. By this point people were coming out of the house to watch the commotion. Beth and Razer pulled Shade back from her car as she thrust it into gear and drove out of the parking lot.

Lily couldn't go home. She couldn't face Beth and Razer right now, and she knew they wouldn't be far behind her. She needed somewhere she could go and think before the panic closed her mind down.

Lily swerved the car as an idea struck her. She knew where she could go. The only place that was left to her.

Chapter 10.

Lily picked up her backpack after the professor finished cla.s.s. It was only the second week into the cla.s.s, but Lily could tell it wasn't going to prove a challenge, and she needed a challenge to keep her mind occupied. She honestly wished now that she hadn't saved all the easy cla.s.ses for her last semester.

She walked slowly back to her dorm room, becoming tired before she was even halfway there. Taking a seat on one of the benches outside, she watched the carefree students on their way to their cla.s.ses.

She looked down at the plain brown dress she was wearing. She needed to go shopping for some more clothes. She hadn't been back to her house since the day she'd left for work at the factory. That night after she had left Beth at The Last Rider club, Lily had driven back to college. She had then sat inside an all-night restaurant on the outskirts of town until her dorm had opened in the morning.

She had texted Beth that she was fine and that she would see her in a few weeks, but she needed time. Beth had texted back, asking Lily to talk to her. She hadn't replied to her texts or calls, though. She had slept practically that whole weekend, barely managing with her migraine to go to the local discount store to buy her some clothes and toiletries before coming back to her bed.

Lily felt so alone; she didn't know how she could make it without Beth. It was a constant struggle not to call and talk to her; however, Lily couldn't bring herself to break her silence.

She hadn't cared that Beth had become involved in what she considered a s.e.x club. She wasn't so naive that she hadn't heard of them before, even if she and Beth had never talked about s.e.x. Lily believed that it was her sister's choice to make, just like it was Kaley's.

What hurt Lily and what she couldn't understand were the lies Beth had used to conceal her other life. Lily had thought they had confided everything to each other, and yet, she had become a part of a lifestyle that condoned free s.e.x with every member and hadn't told her, and had actually taken devious measures to keep it hidden from her.

Beth had obviously picked The Last Riders over her. With them, she could be herself while with Lily she had felt compelled to hide her deepening relationships with them. Beth had pulled away from her; it was as simple as that.

The one person she had trusted in the whole world had lied to her on numerous occasions to protect The Last Riders' code of secrecy.

Lily blinked the tears from her eyes, brushing her hair back from her face.

She rose from the bench, continuing on to her dorm. She had to pa.s.s the parking lot in front of her dorm where the sun glinted off the parked chrome motorcycles. Lily paused, wishing she had noticed them sooner. She could have turned around before they'd seen her.

Lily kept walking, seeing Beth standing by the doors to her dorm.

"h.e.l.lo, Lily." Her sister's anxious face watched for her reaction.

"Beth."

Beth took a step forward, but Lily took a step back, her face twisting into a painful mask.

"Please talk to me, Lily. I can't bear this silence from you," Beth pleaded.

Lily nodded her head. She didn't want to take Beth to her room, yet she didn't want to stay where the pa.s.sersby could overhear. Lily pointed to a shaded bench under a large tree.

"Are you doing okay?" Beth asked once they were seated.

"I'm doing fine. Cla.s.ses are pretty much the same," Lily said, shrugging.

"Lily, I'd like to explain what you saw that night."

She winced at her sister's words. "What I saw was self-explanatory."

"Yes, it was." Beth took a deep breath. "But it's not ugly the way Kaley said. We all care about each other, Lily. We're friends that-"

"Have s.e.x with each other," Lily finished, looking down at her clenched hands, determined not to snap the red band in front of her sister.

"Yes-no. I don't have s.e.x with the other members," Beth explained.

"Kaley said to become a member you have to have s.e.x with the original members." This time her hand snapped the band, despite her promise to herself.

"Yes, but I didn't. I became a member because several of them felt they owed me a marker or wanted Razer's vote in the future. Viper gave me his vote when you were hurt in the accident because I didn't freak out on Ton. Some gave me theirs because I helped solve Gavin's murder."

"So you got all your votes that way?" Lily asked.

"No," her sister admitted quietly.

Lily twisted the band on her wrist tighter. "I don't need to hear this, Beth."

"Lily, I just didn't feel comfortable discussing this with you."

"I understand." And Lily did; it was something she was uncomfortable discussing in detail. "It's hard to talk to someone who freaks out over every little thing."

"You don't, sweetheart." Beth tried to touch her hand, but Lily pulled away.

Lily stared straight ahead, focusing on a tree to her left, not letting her eyes go to the men sitting on their bikes, watching them intently.

"Who are the original members that Kaley was talking about?" Lily asked the question she knew was going to hurt the most.

Beth hesitated, however she answered her low question. "Viper, Cash, Rider, Train, Lucky, Knox, Razer and Shade."

Unconsciously, Lily's hand went to the skin over her heart, rubbing the flesh.

"Your husband is one of the men who gives s.e.xual votes to women who enter the club?" Lily couldn't hide her disbelief that Beth would let Razer have s.e.x with other women.

"He doesn't vote anymore. He hasn't since we broke up three years ago."