Greatest MC Romance Box Set

by Blair Grey

  Now, she’d sparked my pride. “Avia, we’re not exactly helpless little kittens. We’ve dealt with all sorts of groups with some pretty hellish reputations. The mafia isn’t anything to sneeze at, but it’s not insurmountable either.”

  “Maybe, if they tell you no to helping me, then you could just put me on a plane and send me somewhere far away. I’ll just have to make the best of it from there.” Looking hopeless, Avia slumped back against the couch.

  “I can do that if we can’t help you. I can take you somewhere else if my council thinks it’s too risky to take on. Or I can keep you here with me until things blow over. The one thing about the mafia that’s in your favor is that if they find him, they won’t go to the police about his death.” That was both good and bad, but I thought I would only present the good part of that. The bad part was that the mafia wouldn’t stop until they found her. Years could pass by and if someone spotted her, boom – she’d be ended right then and there – no questions asked.

  “My life is over. No matter what, my life as I knew it is over,” she whispered.

  “Isn’t that a good thing though?” I asked her. “You weren’t happy. I mean, who could be happy if they’re getting hit all the damn time? So, yeah, that shit’s over now. You will move on, is what you will do. You will move on without feeling threatened all the damn time.”

  Boy, did I know how that felt. My father’s presence always had me walking on eggshells. And if he saw me tiptoeing around, then he would make it a point to tell me what fucking pussy I was. If I stood my ground, I was looking for punishment. There was no right way for me to be.

  Dad didn’t leave physical bruises that often. Most of the ones he left were mental and they never really healed. When he did do physical punishment, it was brutal. And he always made me apologize to him for making him do the things he did to me.

  I lied once when he asked if I had done my homework. Later, he caught me doing it and asked me why I’d lied to him about having done it already. When I told him that I didn’t want to get into trouble because I hadn’t done it as soon as I came home, which was the rule, he smacked me so hard in the mouth that my front teeth were loose for a week. That’s when I found out that if I lied, I got smacked in the mouth and might even lose a tooth or two if I wasn’t careful.

  I knew Avia’s pain more than she knew I did. I knew how hard it was to leave too. My father wanted me to continue living at home after I got out of school and got a job washing dishes at a café down the street from our house. He wanted the little bit of money I made. And for a while, I did what he wanted. But then one night I came home an hour later than I had told him I would be home, and he beat the shit out of me then locked me in my bedroom.

  That night did it for me. I was handing that man nearly all of my hard-earned money and he beat me like I wasn’t worth a dime. Moving in with a guy I worked with, I distanced myself from my father. The distance only grew between us too.

  Mom left him and he went to go live with his father in Washington state. I hadn’t seen the man in six years and not a day went by that I missed the son-of-a-bitch either.

  “I want you to let them know that I can pay them, Lyle. I’ve got money in a bank account he set up for me. Maybe that’ll make them decide in my favor.” Her long nails moved up and down her arm. That’s when I noticed that she’d broken out in hives.

  My stomach twisted on itself and I had to get away from her for a moment. “I’ll be right back. But no money, Avia. We don’t take money from women who need our help.”

  “But…”

  I hurried to get to my bedroom, then closed the door behind me. I’d seen hives on her once before. When I finally let her out of that closet back in high school, she was covered in them and scratching like crazy.

  Seeing her that way again made me sick and angry at the kid I was back then. A thoughtless, selfish, mean piece of shit who hurt people just to fucking do it.

  Shame filled me as I looked into the mirror. “You are not that person anymore, Lyle Franklin. You’re a good man now.”

  I’ve got to talk my MC into helping her out. I owe it to her.

  Chapter Six

  Avia

  When Lyle came back out to me, he had a black t-shirt in his large hands. “Here, you need to take a shower and you can put this on until I get back. I’ll bring you some clothes to put on. What are you, a size two?”

  I shook my head. “I’m a size one.”

  “You’re skin and bones, Avia.” Tossing the t-shirt onto the sofa near me, he went on, “I don’t have any girly smelling stuff in the shower but take one if you’d like anyway. I’ll bring back some stuff women like. Do you need anything female-wise?” He looked away as if asking the question embarrassed him. “I don’t want you doing without anything.”

  “I’m fine, thank you. I don’t need anything female-wise.” I thought it was very sweet of him to ask. So, not like the Lyle Franklin I’d known back in high school. You don’t have to get any clothes or soaps or anything either, my suitcase is in the trunk of the car.”

  Nodding, he looked toward the kitchen. “I’m going to make you a sandwich before I go down to the club. I’ve texted the other council members about the meeting. It’ll take them a bit to get there.”

  “The other council members?” I asked. “Does that mean that you’re a council member too?”

  “I am the enforcer for our MC. I hold that office and I am in our security company as well. That’s how I make my living. And it’s a decent living. I like my life now.” As he walked away, I couldn’t help watching him as he did so. His body was a work of art. His ass made my mouth water.

  Stop it.

  He’d gotten better looking and I’d gone to hell. There’s something about being around a person who you’re never sure about what they’re going to do to you. Being with Jarome made it hard for me to eat and my nerves were always frayed. I’d gone from a healthy weight when I met him to barely weighing a thing.

  I didn’t want the sandwich Lyle was making for me. But I had meant what I’d said about not telling him, no, about a thing. If he wanted me to eat, I would fucking eat.

  For three years, I hadn’t done a bit of housework. Lyle’s house was very clean though. I wasn’t sure if he did that himself or not. “You know, Lyle, I can keep you house clean if you want. Since I’ll be staying here, it’s the least I can do. And I can do your laundry too. I don’t want to become a burden.”

  Bringing me back a small plate, he handed it to me. “Peanut butter and jelly. I know your stomach is probably out of whack with all this, but this shouldn’t hurt it any.”

  “Thank you.” I took a bit of it, even though the way it felt in my mouth made me want to gag. Stress made it hard to eat but I did it.

  He placed a bottle of water on the coffee table in front of me and took the half-full glass of vodka away. “You’re welcome. And you don’t need to do my housework or laundry. I’ve got a lady who comes in on Mondays to do all that. She’ll do your clothes too if you leave them in the hamper in the bathroom. I don’t have a washer and dryer here. She takes them to a laundry mat and does them there. So, if you want clean clothes to wear, you’d better leave them in the bathroom hamper.”

  “Okay. I’ll do that then.” If I was going to stay with him, I would have to use my bank card to get more clothes. “I guess I’ll do some shopping while you’re gone. I’ve gotta get more things if I’m going to stay here for a while.”

  “You can go out.” He ran his hands through his short, dark hair. Those intense blue eyes of his sparkled as he looked up. “No one can know you’re in town. You need to give me your credit cards too. We’ll need to destroy them.”

  “But that’s my money.” I didn’t want to lose it all. “He gave it to me, Lyle. And he’s not alive to take it away, so I want to keep it.”

  “That’s mafia money, baby. Don’t you understand that?” He huffed, seemingly aggravated with me. “I honestly don’t know why you don’t understand a
ll this. But let me explain it to you anyway. If you use your bank card or credit cards, the mafia will find you. At this point, there is no one else to pin the murder of their boss on, except you. That money is no more. Think about it that way.”

  I didn’t want to think about not having any money. “I’ve got like three-hundred bucks in cash in my purse. Are you telling me that’s all the money I’ve got in the world?” I shook my head. “No. Lyle, I’ve got hundreds of thousands of dollars in my bank account. And that account is in my name.”

  “Is his name on it at all?” he asked as he cocked his head, wearing a knowing expression.

  “It’s in my name. But he was with me when I opened it. He gave me a check for ten-thousand to open it. My allowance increased periodically. And sometimes he reduced it too. But I was getting fifty-thousand for the last six months.” I could live on that for a very long time. I couldn’t just leave it behind.

  “There’s always someone who you have to put on the account as the person who gets the money if you die. It’s called a pay on death beneficiary. Who did you put as that, Avia?”

  “His mother.” I hadn’t wanted to put her as that, but that’s what he asked me to do and I did it since it was really his money. “Not him. So, see, he’s not on that account anywhere.”

  My mind had been such a mess with all the stress that I’d gone back and forth, thinking that I didn’t have any money because Jerome would take it since I’d left and remembered that he was dead and couldn’t take it.

  All I really have to do is get the hell out of the country and I’ll be fine. I’ve got loads of money in the bank to see me through for a long time.

  Pulling his hand over his face, he asked, “Do you think the men he’s in business with will allow you to keep any of their money?”

  “Look, I’ve just thought of something, Lyle.” I took a deep breath to try to gain some composure. “All this stress is making me nuts. Anyway, all I need to do is leave the country. I can get on a plane and get the hell away from here. I’ve got the bank account. I don’t need the credit cards he gave me. Those do have his name on them. But I’ve got my bank account to live off of. And there’s lots of money in it too. So, don’t even go ask for help. I’m just going to run away. Far away. And I’m never going to come back.”

  “I hate to burst your bubble, sweetheart, but the first thing they’re going to do is freeze your bank account. You won’t be able to get a dime out of it. And the first attempt you make to do that will give them the location of where you are and that’s when they will come for you.” He pulled another beer out of his minifridge behind the bar and downed it. I supposed it was out of frustration with me.

  As frustrated as he was with me, I was beginning to get that way with him. “How? Tell me how people who don’t have a thing to do with that account can freeze it? You said a while ago that they won’t go to the police. So, how will they be able to do a thing with my money?”

  “Did your man know people at that bank or did you pick the bank to open an account in?” His cocked brow told me he thought he already knew the answer.

  “Jerome had an account there as well. After the initial paper check to open the account, he made internal transfers from his account to mine. But it’s still my account. Other than his mother being able to get the money if I’m dead, no one else’s name is on it.” I still thought I was right about things.

  But he only shook his head. “He’s got people in that bank that will do what he wants. That means the mafia has people inside that bank who will do what they want. Don’t be foolish, Avia. They’ll be counting on you to be stupid. Don’t fall into their hands. You came to me for a reason. Listen to me. I’m not wrong about this. Kiss that money goodbye and don’t think about it anymore.” He looked at my diamond engagement ring. “But you could sell that thing and any other jewels you have with you. But you can’t go back for anything else. Consider it all gone. Pretend it was destroyed in a fire if it’ll help you forget that you ever had it in the first place.”

  “This isn’t fair. All that I’ve accumulated is just gone. All because Jerome’s dead.” Pouting, I had never thought that if Jerome died, I would lose it all. “This really sucks. After all he did to me, it would’ve been nice to be able to keep the money he gave me.”

  Leaning against the wall, he grinned. “Well, let’s think about this for a minute. You won’t get any money if they think you did it. But what if they think you didn’t do it? What if they think that you and your man were kidnapped by some rivals?”

  “They’ve got lots of rivals.” I knew of at least one that Jerome bitched about often. “The Irish are not fans of his. Lucius McGinty hasn’t been quiet about how he feels about Jerome and Jerome’s lavish lifestyle. He’s said it draws too much attention and that it needs to stop. But Jerome has ignored him so far.”

  “Lucius McGinty, huh?” the sly smile that curved Lyle’s caramel lips told me that I’d finally given him something to work with. “My boss will like hearing that name. His old lady’s father was Irish. One of the meanest sons-of-bitches there ever was. He met with an early demise though. The Irish Reapers also had trouble with the New York sector of the Irish mob. They might be willing to help out. But who knows for sure? Still, don’t count on getting to keep that money.”

  “I won’t.” With a sigh, guilt seeped inside my heart. “I did kill the man. It’s not right to profit off his death.”

  Putting on his black leather jacket with the Iron Cobras’ patch on the back, he jerked his head toward the hall. “The room on the right is yours. I’ll bring your bags in. I need the keys. The car has to go.”

  “My car?” But I knew he was right and fished the keys out of my pocket. “Here. Just leave the luggage in here. I’m going to go cry some more. I can’t believe how much I’ve lost by doing this.”

  As I got up, I felt his hand on my shoulder, then he turned me to face him, running his hands up and down my arms that itched with the hives that had broken out on them. “You’ve gained your life back, Avia. Try to think of things in those terms.”

  “I have no life if the mafia thinks I killed Jerome.” I wasn’t going to try to lie to myself about that. “Even if I do get away from here, I’ll have to look over my shoulder for the rest of my life.”

  “I’m going to try to make sure that doesn’t happen. That’s going to be my main agenda is to shift the blame to someone else. You might have to do a bit of acting though. Think you’re up for it?”

  I had no idea if I was up for anything. “Lyle, I’m not going to tell you that I can pull anything off at this time. I just don’t know.”

  Draping his arm around my shoulders, he took me down the hallway. “Shower. Rest. Get better. I’ll deal with things. You came to the right man, Avia. I stole your graduation day. I stole your good-girl reputation. Let me get your life back for you. I don’t want that asshole who used you as a punching bag to get away with stealing that from you too.”

  Resting my head on his broad shoulder, I sniffled as tears began to flow freely. “I don’t know why I thought to come to you. But I’m damn glad that I did. I’m going to put my trust in you, Lyle Franklin. Please don’t let me down.”

  “I will do all I can. No promises yet, baby. But I’m going to try to get the support of my MC brothers. I’ve come to believe that with them, anything is possible.” He kissed the side of my head. “I’ll put your things in the bedroom on the right. Take a shower and get all that silly goop off your face so I can see the girl who used to have the smartest mouth in our whole class.”

  “My smart mouth went away a long time ago.” It was knocked out of me.

  “Well, I’d like to hear it come back. I miss that snappy little chick who could give as good as she got.” His hand ran down my arm then he walked away.

  I couldn’t watch him go as tears had clouded my visions. But I felt him leaving me. His presence alone had given me a safe feeling. I had to laugh to myself about that.

  Lyle Fra
nklin makes me feel safe?

  Going into the bathroom, I started the shower then peeled off my clothes. The hot water flowed over my body, and at first, it felt awesome. But then the itching from the hives I’d broken out in came screaming to the surface of my skin.

  Switching to all cold water, I leaned back on the tiles and let it all come out. Sobbing, moaning, groaning, I wailed, “Why me? What did I do that was so wrong? I didn’t mean to kill him, Lord. You know that I didn’t mean to do it. I just wanted him to stop. I wanted him to not hit me. I was afraid he would kill me, God! You know that. Please, let this end. Let this all just end.” I crumpled into a heap on the shower floor as I wept.

  Please, just let this all end well for me, Lord. That’s all I ask of you. Let this end well for me.

  Chapter Seven

  Lyle

  “Jerome Conti,” Leo said as he tapped his fingers on the circular council table we all sat around. “New York Mafia boss. He calls himself the president. He’s one flashy S.O.B. too. Fancy cars, a penthouse apartment on Fifth Avenue. Not like most of the other Italian wise guys who like to keep it low-key to avoid attraction from the wrong sort of people.”

  The Iron Cobras’ president, Carl Davis puffed out a thick cloud of cigar smoke. “Lucius McGinty is the head of one of the sectors of the Irish mob. He would be our go-to with this idea you’ve got, Lyle.”

  “So, what do you think of my idea,” I asked them all.

  Our secretary, James Mathews nodded, “I think it’s a good idea. This woman needs to be exonerated from the crime or she’ll lose it all. But what if McGinty won’t go for it?”

  Lucas Hoss, our chaplain answered that question, “See, in that type of organization, some people like to make grand gestures. If he’s made comments about his dislike for Conti in the past. And – as Lyle said – he’s had issues with how flashy Conti was, he might like to take credit for the man’s disappearance.”