“No,” I answer with what little patience I have. “I need to speak to Merlin.”
She gives me a once over—more business than personal this time—then opens the door wider.
“He’s in his office,” she says, pointing to a partially open door a few feet away. I follow her the short distance, almost knocking her over when she stops dead in front of me. “Merlin? There’s someone here to see you.”
“Teller?” Merlin stands. “Thanks, Mady,” he says, dismissing the girl. “What’s on your mind?” he asks, coming closer. His steps are short, almost hesitant.
Aw, is he scared of me?
He should be.
He glances at Whisper and Hudson who both shrug.
Whisper watches me with narrowed eyes. Even if he and Merlin aren’t gettin’ along right now, doesn’t mean he’s going to back me if this goes badly.
“Need to have a word with you,” I explain.
Merlin gives me an indifferent shrug. “So, speak.”
“It’s a personal matter.”
That finally prompts him to order Whisper and Hudson to leave the office.
“You got something to tell me about my niece?” he asks once they’re gone.
“You could say that.” I pull the thick envelope of cash out of my pocket and hold it out in front of me. “This is to pay off the rest of Charlotte’s debt.”
He frowns and snaps the envelope out of my hand. “She told you?”
“Yeah, she told me the whole story.”
Merlin raises his chin, shooting a cold glare at me. “I suggest you adjust your tone when you address me.”
I stare back, harder and colder until Merlin flinches and gives in. “I don’t know what she told you—”
“Yes, you do.” I lower my voice and take a step closer. “Your niece. Your own flesh and blood. What the fuck’s wrong with you?”
He flinches again but tries to appear indifferent. “You know how it is.”
“No, I really don’t. Explain to me how you let your niece get raped in your clubhouse and refused to find the fucker and gut him.”
I swear he pales as he steps back.
“Mind your own business.”
“Charlotte is my business.” I watch him carefully for a few seconds, thinking over what I’m about to say. “She’s my old lady now. Mine. Get used to it.”
His expression locks into cold, hard anger, fists balling up at his sides. Unfortunately for him, it doesn’t intimidate me one bit. “You need to drop this. It doesn’t concern you.”
“You’re dead wrong. Everything about her is my concern.”
“Christ, Teller, it was fucking years ago.”
“Why don’t we find someone to rape you and in seven years let me know how you’re feeling about it.”
That only seems to make him angrier. “Find it hard to believe your club’s willing to back you up.”
“That’s my problem.”
“She’s disloyal anyway.”
“She’s disloyal? Why the fuck should she be loyal to you?”
“I’m her fuckin’ uncle, that’s why!” he shouts. “Her father was my little brother.”
“Yeah, bet he’d be real grateful to know how you took care of his girl.”
“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”
“Was she drugged and raped in this clubhouse or not?”
He clamps his lips shut, so I fire off another question. “Did she come to you for help and you blew her off or not?”
Ignoring both questions, he asks, “You tell Rock, her crazy, drug-addled version of what happened?”
I don’t even bother responding to his attempt to discredit Charlotte. “This ain’t about either of our clubs, and you know it.”
He steps closer and lifts his hand. I think he’s planning to poke me in the chest, but he takes one look at the glacial expression I’m wearing and stops. “You wanna take her on so bad? She’s all yours. Have fun explaining why her brother’s homeless.”
“What’s Carter got to do with this?”
“I’m fucking sick and tired of carrying that kid, and now that Cindy’s gone, I don’t have to. He can get the fuck out of that house.”
“His mother’s house. Because he was taking care of her,” I remind him.
“Guess you don’t know everything. It’s my house. I let her live there because I knew she couldn’t fuckin’ keep a roof over her head otherwise and I promised my brother I’d do that.”
“You’re gonna kick your own nephew out of his house? Right after his mom died?”
“He’s a fuckin’ pussy who’s never gonna be useful to anyone.”
While Carter might not be MC material, he’s a good kid. Hearing Merlin run him down makes me want to punch him in the mouth even more than I already did.
“You do what you gotta do, Merlin.” I step back. “Tell me something, do you know who hurt Charlotte that night?”
He shakes his head, refusing to look me in the eye. “No. Don’t believe the way she told it either,” he says with zero conviction. “Never did.”
“Yeah, well I do.” I step closer getting up in his face. “You wanna know why Loco’s so fuckin’ afraid of me, Merlin?” I taunt in a voice just above a whisper. “I know that’s been driving you crazy.”
His jaw clenches, neck seizing with tension. “He’s fuckin’ nuts, that’s why.”
“He ain’t that crazy. No, he saw what happened to a certain snake who hurt a woman I cared about.” I pause and glance down at my hands. “Well, what was left of him.”
“That why Charlotte’s so bent on suckin’ your dick? ’Cause you promised to get justice for her or some bullshit?”
I’m so done with this asshole and issue my final warning. “One way or another, I’m going to find out who hurt her. You better fuckin’ pray that you didn’t have anything to do with it.”
Merlin’s face darkens. “Don’t you fuckin’ threaten me.”
“It’s not a threat. I protect what’s mine.”
He stalks over to the closed office door and throws it open. “I think we’re done here.”
“Yeah. We are.”
Once I’m in my truck, I head straight to Charlotte’s to give her a head’s up about all the shit that’s about to go down.
I don’t make it that far. I’m crossing the Empire City line when my phone rings. I press the button on my steering wheel and the call comes over Bluetooth. Charlotte’s anxious voice fills the truck. “Marcel, where are you?”
“On my way to your place. What’s wrong?” I’m not sure why I ask, I can guess what’s coming.
“My brother called. He said Chuck stopped by and told him he has twenty-four hours to get his shit and get out of Mom’s house. Said to ask you why.”
“Fuck.” That fucker moved faster than I expected.
“I’ll explain when I get there.”
“Marcel,” she says, drawing out my name. “What did you do?”
I take the exit that leads me into downtown Empire. “I’m almost there, Charlotte.”
“Park in back. I left my car on the street.”
“Thanks, Sunshine.”
Her soft laughter soothes me.
Fifteen minutes later, I’m about to knock on her door, when she throws it open.
“What’s going on?”
No way am I starting this conversation without kissing her first. I wrap my arms around her, pulling her against my chest. “First, kiss me.”
She tips her head back, a hint of a smile playing over her lips. Her arms wind around my neck and I lean down, pressing my lips to hers, taking time to taste her, tell her with my body how much I missed her.
Before I explain I’m the reason her brother’s now homeless.
Painfully conscious of the cameras in her apartment, a knot of guilt tightens my stomach.
A soft sigh eases out of her when we part. She rubs the back of her hand over my cheek. “What happened?”
“I paid o
ff your loan to Merlin.”
All softness vanishes. “Oh, Jesus Christ. I told you to let it go.”
“Fuck that shit.”
“I’m not some…gold digger who expects you to pay my bills.”
“Trust me, I know you’re not. It’s not about that and you know it.”
“Fine, how’d my brother get dragged into this?”
“Your uncle said some shit and I made it clear that you’re my old lady. Let him know how I felt about the way he treated you.”
She exhales a heavy sigh. “Marcel—”
“Someone needed to stand up for you, Charlotte. Even if it’s too many years too late.”
“Thank you,” she says, her voice a rough whisper.
“He said if I was taking on responsibility for you, I could have Carter too.”
“Shit.” She bites her lip. “He wasn’t planning to stay there much longer, but still.”
“I’m sorry. I swear I never thought he’d get caught up in this. All I could think about was paying your uncle off.”
“You really didn’t have to do that, but thank you.”
“I’ll help Carter out any way I can.”
“He’s going to stay here for a few days. It’ll be okay.” She looks up at me again. “Your old lady, huh? There’s a title I never thought I’d want.”
I fit my hands over her hips. “But now you do?”
“Maybe.”
“What can I do to convince you?”
“Kiss me?”
Holding her face in my hands so she knows there’s no escaping, I kiss her with everything I’m feeling.
The whole time aware Z could be watching us.
CHAPTER TEN
Marcel’s no coward. As soon as my brother crashed his way into my apartment, Marcel explained what went down with Uncle Chuck.
Well, respecting my need for privacy, he gave my brother an edited version of what led to the impromptu eviction.
“Whatever, dude, it’s cool. I didn’t want to be there anyway.”
“We can take my truck over tomorrow morning and get whatever else you need. I’ll rent you a storage unit or something until you find a new place.”
Carter doesn’t argue. He seems too shocked.
“This is my fault, Carter. I’ll fix it,” Marcel promises.
It takes my brother a few minutes to come up with a simple, “Thanks.”
Later that night, my tiny apartment’s feeling more cramped than usual as I settle down and try to sleep.
Marcel pulls me into his arms, the hard length of him pressing into my back. “You smell so good,” he says, nuzzling my neck.
“My brother’s like five feet away.”
“I think he knows we fuck.”
I jab my elbow in his ribs. “Not funny.”
He chuckles, jostling my body. “Can you be quiet for once?” he asks, lifting my T-shirt and grazing my hip with his rough fingers. “Hmm?”
“Guys,” Carter calls out. “Just so you know. I can hear like every word you’re saying. Teller, if you could not violate my sister tonight, that would be awesome.”
I can’t help bursting into giggles. Marcel rolls to his back, also laughing. “We need to stay at the clubhouse.”
“That works for me,” Carter yells.
“Shut up and go to sleep,” I shout back.
The next morning’s a little less awkward.
“Thanks for controlling yourselves last night,” Carter says when he sees Marcel.
Marcel glares at him and scrubs his hands over his face before accepting a cup of coffee from me. He leans in and presses a kiss to my cheek, then joins my brother at the table.
“Sleep okay?” he asks Carter.
“Once I was sure you weren’t going to maul each other, I slept like a baby.”
“Christ,” Teller mutters. “This is what I get for giving my sister such a hard time.”
I laugh and pat his shoulder. “From what she’s told me, you have years of big brother karma to work off.”
“By the way.” Carter points his fork at Marcel. “You could put a shirt on at the breakfast table.”
Marcel slaps my brother’s hand away. “Be happy I bothered with pants.”
“Eww.”
Marcel sits back and chuckles, then winks at me.
“Talk about bad karma,” Carter grumbles. “I got shot down by Mercy yesterday, evicted, and now tormented by my sister’s platinum-tongued sex God.”
“Shut up,” I snap.
“Is that what you call me?” Marcel asks, sticking out his tongue and wiggling it at me.
“No. That’s what Mercy calls you,” Carter says.
“Both of you need to stop talking so I can eat my breakfast.” I set a plate in front of Marcel and one on the table for me. As soon as I take my chair, Marcel grabs one of the legs and slides it closer, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.
“Now, why does your friend call me that, Sunshine?” he asks in a low voice.
“What did I tell you about fishing for compliments?”
They finally, mercifully shut up so we can eat in peace.
Checking the time, Marcel nods at Carter. “Hurry up. I want to get over to the house early and start loading up my truck.”
Carter’s fork clatters to the table, bit of scrambled egg flying everywhere. “You’re really going to help me do that?”
“Yeah. Unlike you, I don’t just run my mouth to hear myself talk.”
I spend the rest of the morning helping Carter move the few things he actually wants to keep out of his mother’s house and into a storage unit. The whole time we were at the house, Carter kept checking the road as if he was afraid Merlin would show up any second.
He didn’t.
I get a text from Rock as I’m dropping Carter off at the apartment.
We have a situation.
That’s code for “get your ass to the clubhouse now.”
On my way.
Did Merlin contact Rock and tell him about our little chat? It’d be a bitch move on Merlin’s part, but not exactly surprising.
“You’re not coming in?” Carter asks.
“Can’t. I need to get home.”
The kid almost seems disappointed. “Thanks a lot for helping me. I really appreciate it.”
“Least I could do after getting you kicked out.”
“It’s not your fault our uncle’s an asshole.”
He gives me a quick fist-bump, and I head to the clubhouse.
Murphy meets me in the garage.
“What’s going on?”
“Something went down at Loco’s.”
“Why’s that an emergency for us?” I guess it’s not so unusual for us to help Loco out, but it doesn’t normally require all of us sitting down at the table.
“Rock will explain it. I’ll see you inside.”
Z rides into the parking lot, and I wait for him. “Fun times,” he greets me.
I hold up my hands before he says anything else. “I’m spilling everything today, right after Rock tells us what this is about.”
“Thanks, brother.” He cocks his head and flashes a slight smirk. “So, who’s the little dude staying at her place?”
I shove him sideways. “You asshole.”
He grins even wider. “Ease up, I was fast forwarding through and saw someone that wasn’t you or her. I assume it’s her little brother?”
“That would be Carter.”
Z and I are the last ones to the table, which is unfortunate because Rock’s in a foul mood. Not a good omen considering what I have to share with my brothers today.
He doesn’t wait for everyone to settle down, he just jumps right into the problem.
“Loco called. He got paid a visit by two wanna-be bikers asking a lot of questions about us.” His pissed-off glare lands on me.
“I can shed some light on that.”
Everyone at the table focuses their attention on me, which I gotta say isn’t real comforting at the moment. r />
I sit up, elbows on the table, clasping my hands in front of me.
Nothing less than the whole story will work here.
“Merlin’s been trying to dig up information on what we’re doing in Ironworks. He seems to still think it’s in play.”
“No shit,” Wrath says.
“Fuck him,” someone else adds.
“Well, when Loco didn’t break, he tried to bug Charlotte’s phone.”
“When exactly was this?” Rock asks.
I swallow hard under the weight of his penetrating stare. “Day after the funeral. She lost her cell phone. Went back to get it and overheard some stuff.”
At this point, the only sound in the room is the air moving in and out of our lungs.
Z raises his hand, taking some of the heat off me. “He brought me in right away.”
Here’s where letting Z know about the bugging will save my skin.
Wrath nods, but Rock doesn’t seem as forgiving. “That so?”
“Yes, Prez.” Z sits up, carefree attitude disappearing. He and Rock go way back and are tight, but in this room, Rock’s the president. Everyone knows their place. “They’re fucking stupid though. Put some two-bit app on her phone. Even if she hadn’t overheard them, she probably would’ve noticed it.”
“They place something less obvious somewhere else?” Wrath asks.
“Not that I could find. I went through the phone thoroughly. Just to be sure, I had her buy a new one. Did a full sweep of her apartment and found nothing else.”
“And?” Rock prompts, knowing there’s more to the story.
“Teller and I placed a few select cameras at her apartment.”
Shit, I feel like an asshole when he says it. Not that my brothers will judge me or care. It only helps my case.
Finally, Rock lightens up and sits back. “She know about them?”
“No.”
One corner of his mouth lifts in a wry, but not unkind way. “Good luck with that.”
“What else?” Wrath asks.
“Well, it’s South of Satan MC who went to visit Loco. Merlin ordered them to go back, this time wearing colors.”
“Fuck me,” Dex mutters.
Z lists the rest of the information Charlotte gave us one by one.
“Aw, Christ. Guess I gotta stop wanting to punch Loco every time I see him,” Rock jokes.