by Faith Gibson
After a while, she believed Maveryck belonged to a different chapter. That didn’t make sense, considering the other men in one of the photos with him came and went from this particular clubhouse. Maybe he was on vacation, or off on a job somewhere. Whatever the case, Natalia was losing hope of seeing him. She wasn’t giving up though. Since she couldn’t find Maveryck, she had been watching the other bikers. None of them had been involved in secret meetings outside their clubhouse. Most of them went home at the end of the day, and to her surprise, some even had women and children waiting on them. As far as she could tell, these were family men who happen to ride motorcycles.
After a week of wasting gas and good disguises, Natalia decided to focus on one of the other bikers in case he led her to Blue Eyes. If all else failed, she would stop him and just ask if he knew Maveryck. Natalia was going to make up some lame excuse about wanting to reunite with him after a night together, praying Maveryck didn’t have a wife at home who would come after her.
And she knew exactly who she was going to follow. One she had yet to tail. The biker who winked at her was at the clubhouse every day. If he figured out she was tailing him, she would lay on the charm and hope the wink he gave her meant he liked what he saw. It was probably rude to use the man to get to another one, but if she didn’t find Maveryck soon, someone else would be gunning for him. Literally.
The biker she’d chosen to follow didn’t make her wait long. He pulled out of the clubhouse lot and headed in the direction of Maveryck’s house. Instead of pulling into Maveryck’s neighborhood, the man drove to a house a few miles away, pulling his bike around back of the house. Natalia thought she would have to wait for a while as he went inside, but he returned from around back to the detached garage. When the door opened, an SUV backed out. Natalia was sitting a few doors down, and when he drove past, he looked right in her window. She couldn’t see his eyes, but there was no doubt he saw her. Shit! There went the element of surprise. Now, she looked like a stalker. Maybe that wasn’t a bad thing. She could play that up to her advantage. She turned the car around and followed, doing her best to keep her distance but not far enough back she lost him.
The vehicle turned onto the street Maveryck lived on, and Natalia kept going straight. She drove around half an hour before taking a chance on driving by Maveryck’s house. When she did, she found the SUV parked in the driveway. Either Maveryck was home, or the other man was taking care of his house for him. Natalia was used to straightforward jobs. This was the first time she’d had trouble locating her mark. Not that she considered him a target. Not for her. Maybe her best course of action was to walk up to his front door and knock. No, then she would have to admit how she knew about the contract. She had his address, so maybe she could mail a copy of the contract to him, leaving out some damning information about herself. If she overnighted it, he would get it tomorrow, and that would warn him without giving herself away.
With that decision made, Natalia headed home. She had no idea what she was going to tell Nix. This would be the first time she hadn’t completed a job. Not that she had been planning to pull the trigger. Not without knowing more about Maveryck Lazlo. Maybe she would warn him but continue looking for him. Someone thought he warranted death. She hadn’t observed any of the others doing anything illegal. As she sat waiting most nights, Natalia researched more on the various biker clubs. She’d been under the impression they all had illegal undertakings keeping their clubs afloat. That wasn’t true. There were clubs comprised of retired military. Some claimed to be Christian clubs riding for Jesus. There were those whose members were cops and firefighters. These clubs, on the surface, did good in their communities. Raising money and doing their best to help those less fortunate around them. Maybe the Hounds fell into that category.
As soon as she was inside her own home, Natalia removed her disguise and dressed in her normal clothes. Since she didn’t want Maveryck to know she was in the area, Natalia would have to drive for a bit to a post office in another town. Tugging on a pair of skinny jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt, she slid her feet into a pair of ankle boots. She fluffed her hair where it had been flattened under the wig of the day. Once she looked presentable, Natalia sat down at her laptop and opened the contract, copying only the part stating who the mark was and the other identifying information Nix had sent on Maveryck. Then she opened a blank document and typed out a short note.
Dear Mr. Lazlo,
It has come to my attention you have a price on your head. After much consideration, I do not feel as though you deserve to be targeted. Let this serve as warning to watch your back.
Natalia didn’t know how to sign the note, so she left it as it was. Short and to the point. It would buy her some time to actually lay eyes on the man. Once she did that, she would be able to follow him and determine for herself the type of man he was.
Chapter Nine
Maveryck
The conversation with Maveryck’s other brothers was nothing short of manic. Ryker remained silent, while Hayden and Kyllian talked over each other. Ryker finally ordered them to be quiet so he could ask pertinent questions. He assured Mav the three of them would have the bedroom cleaned out. He also promised the three of them would be staying long enough to help Mav and Sutton unload the furniture and assemble the beds.
It took longer than Mav anticipated to choose the boys’ bedroom furniture. Sutton finally grabbed him by the shoulders and assured him the twins would be happy with whatever he chose. They were only four and weren’t likely to care much about whether the beds were oak or maple. Next, they went to the home goods store where he chose fun superhero bedding with blue sheets.
With both their vehicles loaded, Mav turned in a circle, looking at the stores in the vicinity. “They need toys.”
“That’s being taken care of. Let’s go get the furniture set up.” Sutton didn’t give Mav time to ask questions. He got in his truck and pulled out of the parking lot with Mav standing like a statue. He tried to think of anything else the twins might need, but War and Kerrigan had the clothes covered. Sutton said toys were being taken care of. He knew they needed other things, but his brain had stopped functioning properly. His phone rang, and he panicked, thinking it was Rory.
“Mom?”
“Get your ass in your car and follow me,” Sutton commanded.
“Right. Got it.” How the hell was Mav supposed to take care of his boys when his head was spinning?
His brothers’ bikes were parked at the curb, leaving room for Mav and their dad to back their trucks into the driveway. Ryker was already helping Sutton remove the beds from the back of his truck. Hayden and Kyllian grabbed the dresser next, none of them waiting on Maveryck. He followed after them, and when he got to the twins’ room, he was pleasantly surprised to see it had been cleared out and vacuumed.
“How do you want the room arranged?” Ryker asked.
“Let’s put the beds on the far side with the dresser over here. The toybox can go in the corner next to the closet.” Maveryck had rearranged the room several times over in his head, and this was the best use of space he came up with. “I’m going to toss the new sheets in the washer.”
For as nervous as he was, Maveryck was equally as excited. He went outside to his SUV and grabbed all the bags. He had just closed the lid on the washing machine when a large hand gripped his shoulder.
“How you doing, Son?”
Mav turned, leaning against the dryer. “Nervous. Excited. I’m ready to make up for lost time, but shit, Pop. I’ve got a job to do. How am I going to go after Tatiana Volkova with two boys?”
“The same way every other working parent does their job; you get a babysitter. Your mother and I will be more than happy to watch the twins if you need to leave.” Maveryck had filled his father in on the latest contract while they were shopping for furniture. “It’s not like you’ll be taking them to a daycare where a stranger is watching them. Rory is going to fight you anyway about spending time with them, so look at it
as doing her a favor while you continue with your job.”
“I don’t want them to think I’m abandoning them, though.”
“They won’t think that. Now, they may think that about Jenna. You need to find her and have a sit-down as soon as possible. You also need to find out if she’s shared our secret. We need to know where her head is. Most importantly, we need to understand why she chose now to bring the boys to you.”
“I need to give Lucy a call. See if she can locate Jenna. I didn’t see an address in the papers she left.”
“Didn’t you leave the package with your Mom?” Mav nodded. “Okay, I’ll give her a call. Have her doublecheck before you get Lucy involved in something else. We need her focus to be on Josiah’s whereabouts and your Tatiana.”
“She’s not my anything,” Maveryck muttered.
His dad got a contemplative look on his face. “Warryck probably didn’t think Kerrigan was his anything when you started looking for her, either.”
“Why would this Volkova woman mean something to me other than a paycheck?” Sometimes Mav wondered how his father’s mind worked.
Sutton scratched his chin. “It’s just... your life is changing. War quit his job, and then Bam! He found his female. You now have the twins, so...”
“Bam?” Mav laughed. “Sometimes I wonder about you, old man.”
Sutton cuffed him upside the head. “I may be older, but I can still kick your ass.” Maveryck had no doubt about that. Sutton Lazlo was a force to be reckoned with. “Come on. Let’s see how your brothers are faring.”
Less than two hours later, the twins’ bedroom was set up with freshly laundered sheets hiding underneath the new comforters. War and Kerrigan had just arrived with clothes and quite a few toys. Hayden and Kyllian tore into the toys, removing the packaging. The two of them praised War and his female for getting some “really cool shit.”
“Yeah, well, don’t break the cool shit before the twins get a chance to play with them,” Sutton admonished.
Kerrigan showed Maveryck all the clothes they had bought, separating them into different sizes. Mav would have to get the boys to try them on to see what did and didn’t fit before he washed them. When he held up a pair of Aquaman pajamas, he turned to his own twin. “Aquaman?”
“Hey, don’t look at me. Kerrigan picked those out.”
“What? He’s the hottest of the bunch.” Kerrigan shrugged, grabbing them from Mav and folding them back up. War rolled his eyes at his feisty redhead before tugging her to him and kissing her soundly. Mav was happy for his brother, but he felt the tinge of longing in his chest whenever he was around them.
“Thank you all for everything. I’m going to call Rory and have her bring the boys home,” Mav said. “I’d like to give them at least tonight to settle in before introducing them to everyone.”
“You’re kicking us out? We want to meet the little dudes.” Kyllian was normally laid back. Nothing could bring him down, but he was clearly upset.
“I want you to meet them. I just don’t want them overwhelmed with a houseful of people on their first night home. I want to get them comfortable with me and being in a new place. I have no idea what life has been like for them up until now, but I have a feeling it wasn’t as good as it should have been. So, please. Give me tonight. You can come back tomorrow.”
“Your brother’s right. Besides, there will be plenty of nights in the future where he’ll be off on a job and will need you to watch over the twins.” Sutton began herding everyone toward the front door.
Mav hugged Kerrigan then each one of his brothers. Even Ryker went in for an embrace instead of a fist bump. Having his own daughter back in his life had loosened the male’s attitude. When it came time for him to say goodbye to War, everyone walked outside, leaving the two of them alone in the house.
War pulled Mav to him. “I’m so happy for you, Brother. I can’t wait to meet the little guys.”
“Thank you. I want you to meet them. They look just like we did when we were that age.”
“Yeah?”
Mav wiped a stray tear. “Yeah. I just hope they aren’t as rowdy as we were. I’m not Rory.”
“No, but you are their father. The three of you are going to be fine.”
Mav smiled. He prayed his twin was right. He wanted to be the best dad to his boys. As he stepped outside and saw the faces smiling back at him, he knew he wasn’t in this alone. He had one hell of a support system. “I’ll see you all tomorrow.”
Sutton waited around until the others were gone. “You ready?”
“Definitely.” Maveryck called his mom and told her to bring his boys home.
“Whoa! This is our room?” Major’s eyes were wide as he turned in circles, taking in his new bedroom. Marshall was waiting at the door, peeking in. “Marsh! Look, toys!”
With that little nudge from his brother, Marshall charged into the room and fell to his knees beside Major who was pulling all the toys out of the container Mav had bought. It wasn’t a cheap plastic toybox, but a wooden chest. Hayden had removed the lid and hinges, storing them in the attic until the boys were older and could open and close the heavy lid without hurting themselves.
“Which one do you want?” Major asked.
“Uhm...” Marshall stuck his finger in his mouth as he looked over all the toys. “I like this one.” He picked up the Aquaman action figure.
“I’ll take this one,” Major said, choosing Superman. He placed the toy on the bed nearest him then proceeded to put the rest of the toys back. Maveryck enjoyed some of the new action hero movies, but the older ones with both the Marvel and DC characters were still his favorite. When the world fell apart thirty years prior, most movies and television productions had halted. The movies of that era remained mainstream for years, until the entertainment industry got back up and running. He was glad his boys enjoyed the toys, but he was confused as to why Major was putting the other toys back. Maybe Jenna only allowed them to play with one thing at a time.
“You can play with all of them, if you’d like. We’ll just make sure to put them away before you go to bed,” Mav instructed. Both boys looked at each other before turning and looking at their dad.
“We don’t have to pick just one?” Major asked.
“No, Son, you don’t. You have to share them, but all those toys are yours.”
“Wow!” Marshall’s eyes were big. He scooted closer to the toy chest and got on his knees looking down into the box.
“I’m going to order pizza. What kind do you like?”
The twins did that thing where they stared at each other without speaking. Major looked up at Mav and asked, “Are you our daddy?”
“I sure am. Did... Uh, did your mom talk about me? Did she tell you anything about me? You knew I had a motorcycle.”
They shook their heads in unison. Fuck. They really had been thrown in the deep end. “Hang on. I want to show you something.” Maveryck rushed to his room, choosing two photos of him and War, and one of all the brothers. Dropping to his knees next to the boys he held out the first one. “This is me and my twin, Warryck. We call him War. And then there’s this one.” Mav handed them the frame and waited.
“That’s us!” Major said.
“No, that’s me and War when we were little. See how much you look like me and your uncle?”
They both nodded. Marshall took the photo and brushed his index finger over Mav’s young face in the picture. When he looked up at Maveryck, his eyes were glossy. “Who’s this?”
“That’s me, Buddy. You take after me, and Major takes after his Uncle Warryck.” When Marshall kept staring at Mav, he cleared his throat, which was clogged with emotion, and showed them the last photo. “And these here are your other uncles. That’s Ryker. Me and War are next, and that there is Hayden and Kyllian,” Mav said, pointing out each male. “You’ll get to meet your uncles tomorrow. If that’s okay.”
“I get to see War?” Major asked.
“Yes, and his girlfriend, Kerrig
an. They’re the ones who bought your toys and clothes. And my other brothers helped set up your room today.”
Major handed the frame back to Mav. “Uh, can we have peppernoni?”
Maveryck grinned. “You mean pepperoni?” Major nodded. “You sure can. I love pepperoni.” Major’s smile was huge, like Maveryck had told him the best secret in the world. “I’m gonna let you two play while I go downstairs and order the pizza. Just yell if you need anything. Or, if you want to, you’re welcome to come downstairs with me and your grandparents. Whatever you want.”
“Okay, Daddo.”
Daddo? Maveryck laughed out loud, startling the twins. “Daddo. I like it.” He stepped out of the room, but instead of heading downstairs, he peeked back around the corner to watch the boys. They were digging in the toybox, whispering and grinning. With their arms full, they climbed on one of the beds and began playing. Maveryck’s heart melted.
When they first arrived with Rory, the boys stood in the middle of the living room like little statues. Maveryck showed them around the house, leaving their room for last. The twins held hands as they followed their dad, silently taking it all in. He wondered if they were naturally quiet, or if their new situation had them shy. He hadn’t really talked to them much, but he decided to wait until his parents left to try and get to know them better. Rory and Sutton were sitting in the living room, waiting for him to come back downstairs. His mom was being surprisingly hands-off. He appreciated that more than she could know. They were his boys, and the three of them would figure out their own dynamic.
“I’m ordering pizza. You two want to stay and eat with us?”
“Do you want us to stay?” Rory asked.
“Of course. The boys want peppernoni. What do you two want?”
Sutton barked out a laugh. “Zeus, but they’re cute. Just get extra of whatever you order, and we’ll eat it.”
