High-Sided (Armed & Dangerous #3)(13)

“As we got older, things changed, but our friendship remained steady. I remember his first girlfriend and how nervous he was to take her on a date. We knew each other’s fears and helped one another through them. He was always my protector, and it kills me that I couldn’t be there to protect him at the end.” Tears fell down my cheeks and I closed my eyes as everything closed in around me. I couldn’t look at the crowd anymore, so I turned to the casket and placed my hands on top.

“Levi was there for me when my mom died, and I keep waiting for him to show up and tell me everything will be okay. Only it won’t be, because he’s the one who’s gone now. We shared a passion for motorcycles and it was always his dream to be one of the best racers in the world. I never got to tell him he already was.” My throat tightened up to the point it hurt. No more words would pass from my lips. I wiped away my tears and hurried back to my seat.

When I sat down, I turned to look back at my dad for some support, only to feel my heart rip open even more. Standing beside him, staring straight at me, was the one man I thought I’d never see again. After eight years, he’d finally come back.





Logan


I didn’t know what to expect when I saw her for the first time again, but the last thing I wanted to see was the pain in her eyes. It reminded me of the way she looked at me all those years ago. Levi had kept me updated on her and I knew she hated me, but she was never good at hiding her feelings.

After the preacher finished the closing remarks, Levi’s family walked by his casket to place their flowers on top. Richard held a rose out to me and I shook my head. “Can you put it up there for me, please?”

He nodded and joined the line, stopping by Kassidy to kiss her head before joining me again. “She’s mad at me,” he whispered.

“Join the club. I’ve been on her shit list for eight years.” I wanted to talk to her, but when she stood, Sean put his arm around her and glared at me. Kassidy averted her gaze when they walked past us. “Looks like she’s not the only one ready to kill me.”

Richard sighed. “Sean’s protective of her. After you left, he and Levi were there to pick up the pieces.”

I glanced at Kassidy over my shoulder. She got into her car and they drove away. “I didn’t want to leave her, you know that.”

He slapped a hand on my shoulder. “I know, son. But you can always make it up to her. I’m sure you’ll be spending a lot of time together here shortly.”

Now that everyone had dispersed, Richard and I walked up to Levi’s casket. “Does she know what you have planned?”

“Not yet,” he said with a shake of his head.

When she found out, it was going to be a clusterf*ck. Closing my eyes, I placed my hand on Levi’s casket. “Forgive me, my friend. I should’ve come much sooner.”

“Do you blame yourself?” Richard asked.

I opened my eyes. “How can I not? He asked for my help and I didn’t come. Now it’s too late.”

“You didn’t know he was going to get run off the road, Logan.”

My teeth clenched. “No, but it happened for a reason. He told me what Ethan said about my accident and how Ethan was framed. I need answers,” I said, turning to face him, “and I want them now.”

Richard nodded toward his car and I followed him over. “There was a time I had a problem with gambling. Not many people know how close I came to losing everything. I lost so much money, and when I went in debt, that’s when bad things started happening. It was payback for my defaults.”

“What kind of payback are we talking?”

Sighing, he lowered his head. “My shop at the time was broken into and my motorcycles were destroyed. I was jumped in a parking lot and beaten pretty badly. It wasn’t until they started threatening to take my girls when I began to panic.”

“When was this?” I demanded.

His eyes met mine. “When I met you. But then, you started winning, and that’s when the sponsors and the money rolled in. I was able to pay everyone back.”

“So basically, I saved your ass and got f*cked in the process.”

“That’s what doesn’t make sense,” he replied. “I’d paid back everything I owed long before your accident. If your bike was tampered with, there’s no way it could be related. The same goes with Ethan and Levi.”

“Then who do you think’s responsible? Have you started gambling again, or did you never stop?”

He froze and I could see the look of embarrassment on his face. “I’m not going to lie, I never stopped, but I know my limits. I don’t do any of the illegal stuff anymore. If I want to gamble, I go to Vegas like normal people.”

“Jesus Christ,” I growled. “You need to go to gamblers anonymous, or whatever shit they have for people with those problems.”

He nodded. “So I’ve been told. My wife hates it, but I can’t seem to stop.”

I stepped up to him, anger boiling in my veins. “For now, you’re gonna quit. I left my life to come here and if you want my help, you’re going to do everything I say.”

“I can do that.”

“Starting with a list of names,” I huffed. “I want to know everyone you’ve pissed off bad enough for them to retaliate, both in the gambling world and racing.” He wrote me a list of names and I wasn’t surprised to see some of them on there. “Brad Hendrix, huh?” I hated that man. He was a douche many years ago and I was pretty sure nothing had changed, especially since two of his riders were taken into custody after Levi’s wreck. “Does he know about your gambling?”