Link huffed. "Well, hell, Nyx, that's how you know it's serious. When a man serves himself up for a whooping, you know shit got real."
"It did with me, but I don't think so with her. She's drifting away."
"I heard," Nyx said softly.
"Figured that's why you came bursting in yesterday."
He pulled a face. "I'm not having her running off to New Orleans again. Scared the shit outta me thinking of her in that godawful city."
Link laughed. "It's one of the best cities in the States."
"Not for my single baby sister who's incapable of keeping her ass out of trouble."
Link laughed. "Jesus, yeah. She was a little shit, wasn't she?"
Curious, I asked, "She was?"
Link caught my eye in the rearview mirror. "Oh yeah, she was. Fuck, she was terrible. Something fierce. It was almost a relief to get her ass out of Jersey, give us all a break, but then news would float up about what she was doing, and then that’d set old Mad Dog over here to frothing at the mouth."
Nyx punched him in the arm, but Link just grinned, quite cheerfully dissing on our brother like it meant nothing to get in this insane fucker's face.
"She's mellowed out though now, hasn't she?" I asked, curious if they considered this version of Indy to be mellow or not.
As far as I could see, she didn't get into trouble but she had no issue with running her mouth to a lot of very dangerous men. That was either bravery or dumbassery.
"Christ, yeah," Nyx rumbled. "It's like she's on weed now. I don't know what happened, but she changed when she came back."
My brows rose. "Thought she came back because your Ma died."
"She did, but I don't think that's what changed her. Not really. By the end, none of us were very close.
"My folks couldn't get over what Kevin had done, couldn't get over that Carly was dead and why, it was just... well, it was a fucking mess.
"Caleb started getting into shit when he was sixteen. Joyriding and pulling stupid stunts in stolen vehicles." He heaved a sigh. "Me and Indy had to straighten him out."
I narrowed my eyes at that insight, and asked, "Hang on, is that why you're so mad at him for getting caught?"
"Yeah, because we both spent a lot of time, and wasted a lot of fucking energy, in getting him on the straight and narrow."
"The only way you could get that kid to be straight and narrow is if you tied him to a fucking ruler. Prison will do him good," Link informed the truck as a whole.
"Not sure Rikers is good for anyone's soul."
"I'd usually agree, but Caleb was a hyperactive little shit. He needed to go in there, get himself a pair of balls. Grow up. The MC isn't a game, you can't just play at it, and that was what he was doing. It was only a matter of time before he was going down, and I'd prefer for him to get hit now, and serve some time, when he's young because as much of a hardass as the judge was on his case, if he'd been five years older, I'd swear he'd have sent him down for life."
Nyx pulled a face. "I hate that you're right, man, but you are."
"I'm always right," Link chirped, which prompted us to both roll our eyes.
"You keep on believing that shit if it makes you feel better, Link."
"Trust me, I will." He pinned me down with another look, then asked, "What's going on with you and Indy?"
"She's wondering if she's crazy to be with a biker. I can't blame her. Not after what went down, and then with all the other shit..."
Nyx heaved a sigh. “Shit I haven't shared in church yet."
Link's brows rose. "What kind of shit are we talking here?”
"It's a long fucking story, and we're already at the motel."
"Thank fuck Lodestar got that info off her drive," Link muttered, changing the subject to the matter at hand. “Means that cunt will sell the motel to keep his ass out of jail.”
While he wasn’t exactly wrong… “I don't know if it's all that great. It means she cloned everything on Maverick's hard drive, Link. When she probably shouldn't have done that."
"Wouldn't be surprised if Maverick already knew. He's weird with her," Nyx pointed out. "Gives her enough rope to hang herself then cuts her down. Every time."
Because I couldn't disagree, especially knowing what I did, I murmured, "Think they were boning back when they were serving?"
"Yeah," Link and Nyx said simultaneously.
"No way he'd cut her so much slack otherwise,” Link carried on.
"Agreed," I murmured, nodding at him. "I don't think she leads him around by his dick though."
"No, that's firmly in Ghost's grasp now. Did you see her at the hospital?" Link pulled a face as we drove into the motel's parking lot. "If I had a pussy, I'd have cried. She looked petrified, like she thought he was gonna die.”
"They're sleeping together," Nyx said softly, his tone quiet. "Not fucking, not as far as I could make out, but sleeping."
My brows rose, because everyone knew how weird Maverick was with sleeping.
He'd scared a couple of clubwhores who'd sneaked right into his room when he'd first gotten back, shoved a knife to their throats. He'd almost sliced one bitch, Lacey. She'd left soon after, thank fuck.
Maverick was the kind of guy who didn't say what he didn't mean.
He'd told the bitches to leave him alone, that a BJ wasn't going to cure his woes, but they hadn't listened.
None of us had had much sympathy for Lacey in the aftermath, which was why she'd left, but still, it was a testament to the growing bond between Maverick and Ghost that they were sleeping together like that.
In all honesty, for Mav's sake, I hoped he found some peace with her. God knew, they both deserved it.
"He'll be okay, won't he?" Link asked, twisting around to look at me.
"My doctorate isn't in medicine," I reminded him, just like I had to remind my brothers every fucking week.
"Yeah, but you know more than we do," Nyx intoned.
I pulled a face, because that wasn't a lie. I could read between the lines, but it wasn't like I was up on that shit. "The damage to his head wasn't even that bad, so they're not sure why he's still unconscious."
"Seems like the doctors are just like us—we don't know what the fuck made him think he could go into the clubhouse."
"Yeah, well, I have more answers about his medical file than I do about that," I rumbled.
"What about Bear?" Nyx asked, his voice low.
"I dunno," I told him. "It depends. And even after, if he does make it, and they seem pretty confident he will—"
"Only because the staff are terrified of Rex."
"Yeah, well, Stone agreed, didn't she?"
"True," Nyx conceded.
"The trouble will be afterward. You've seen how Maverick was. Why wouldn't Bear be the same?"
"So, what you're saying is he might make it, might pull through, only for us to lose him to depression?"
"Could be," I said grimly.
"Jesus. We need to make sure that doesn't happen."
"We're family. It ain't gonna happen. He'll get through this, and whatever he needs to get back to a more normal life, we're on it,” Link retorted, voice firm, like if he said it a certain way, it’d be set in stone.
The three of us nodded in agreement, and when Nyx pounded his hand into his fist and murmured, "Don't know about you fuckers, but I'm ready to bust some balls," Link and I were right there with him.
Indy
I stared blankly into space, not really looking at the drawing I was making, not answering the phone that was ringing and had been, off the hook, for hours on end.
Or, at least, it felt that way.
I had a lot of clients, a lot of them, and they were all trying to come in for their bi-monthly appointments, but I just couldn’t deal with that right now.
I'd dealt with worst trauma in my life, but at the minute, it was all just a little too much.
When my door opened, and I found Cruz standing there, looking his regular, calm self, except for rand
om bandages and bulges of more of them under his cut, I wasn't sure whether I wanted to scream or smile.
There was a timeless quality about him. Something that made me feel like in a hundred years, he'd still be standing there if I didn't send him away.
Shit, maybe if I even tried to send him away, he'd still be standing there.
Knowing his determination, it would fit.
I couldn't be upset about that, so, my major question was, what the fuck was I upset about?
The thought had me swallowing nervously, which he noticed, of course, raised a brow, then asked, "Thought I might be chasing your ass down in Georgia by now."
"You have my niece or nephew to thank for me being here."
He grimaced at that. "I was hoping you were going to say me."
I bit my lip. "I won't not say it's you."
He heaved a sigh. "Music to a man's ears, Indy."
"That's how I roll, you know that," I rumbled, rocking back in my chair as I stared at him. "You look like you'd fall down if I pushed you over."
“Won't most men? If you shove them hard enough?"
I gnawed on my bottom lip. "Sit on the sofa."
"Thought I was the one who was supposed to boss you around?”
I tipped up my chin. "I'm not the injured one."
"True." He arched a brow at me, then retreated to the sofa. "Guess it's a good sign you don't want to toss my ass out."
"I—" That had never been my intention. Didn't he know that? "This isn't about you, Cruz."
"That's the fucker, I know. Usually, it's me, and in this, it's my life."
I gnawed some more on my lip. "I know I'm being stupid," I whispered, my voice low.
"No, you're not," he immediately countered. "You're being rational. What woman in their right fucking mind would want to stay tied into this life unless—"
"They come from it, or if their world was already fucking bad."
He grimaced. "Yeah."
I shook my head at him. "Why are you a biker, Cruz? Why, when your mom is a Fed, and you looked to come from a real nice home."
"I did. Dad's great, Mom... isn't. It has nothing to do with her being a Fed, either. It's just she's a psycho."
“That's why you're right at home with the Sinners, I take it," I said, and despite myself, a smile danced around my lips.
"Yeah, how couldn't I be?" He pulled a face. "My grandfather got whacked by the Irish Mob about—" He hesitated. "Christ, fifteen years ago? Something like that.
“I never knew him that well, because he wasn't that happy about Caro being a pig when he was definitely up to his eyes in filthy business. Anyway, he gets his fool ass offed, and ever since, Mom's been on a kind of vigilante mission to find his killer and right the 'wrong' of his death."
"It was bound to be a wrong to her if she loved him."
He shrugged. "She's a fool, then. He was as great a father as she is a mother. My dad, on the other hand, is cool. We got along great, still do. He's normal, thank fuck."
"That makes your decision to go into organized crime even more unusual."
He tapped his nose. "Think you can learn about my past in a couple of sentences?"
Chastised enough to smile in earnest this time, I rocked my chair and murmured, "Apologies, I'm all ears."
He dipped his chin. "It's not the best of stories, Indy,” he warned.
"No origin story ever is," I said dryly. "As long as you weren't bitten by a radioactive spider... oh, wait, I could deal with that."
He snorted. "Good to know, but nothing that interesting.
"I was a smart kid. Very smart. Got a bunch of scholarships when I was fifteen, and when other kids were boning their way through their freshmen year, I was handling two Bachelor of Science degrees at NYU.”
“Which ones?”
“Chemistry and Structural Engineering.”
“Probably shouldn’t get me wet knowing you’re a clever bastard, should it?”
His lips twitched. “Whatever turns you on, Indy… it’s all good.”
Because I loved that twinkle in his eye, I asked, “That means you can build bridges and shit. Literal ones, I mean. Right?”
A laugh escaped him. “Yeah. Technically, it does. I’d need a license though. I got one a while back but it expired. Don’t exactly need one when I’m tending bar.”
“No, I guess not. Why Chemistry and Structural Engineering?”
“Always loved building shit and destroying shit.” He shrugged. “Even went into a doctorate program with my favorite subjects merged together—Chemical Engineering. That was ten times more fun.” His nose crinkled at the bridge, like a thought had crossed his mind, one that had his eyes darkening too, but he didn’t express it out loud.
Though I was curious what had drained his amusement, I only asked, ”You have a doctorate?"
"I do." He scratched his throat, bringing my attention to the negative tattoo there—like I hadn’t seen it a thousand times before. "Don't look the type, do I?"
"No, but that's why I love the fact that looks can be deceiving." I sat up, suddenly interested by this man I'd shared so much with and who'd, in the grand scheme of things, only shared his DNA with me.
But my words changed the conversation—his eyes narrowed on me. “Wasn’t your first kill, was it?" he asked, his head tipping to the side.
“I wish it was."
"Who?"
"David wasn't my first stalker."
His eyes flared wide in genuine surprise—who the hell could blame him? "You're kidding?"
"No. Apparently, I attract a certain type." I cocked a brow at him. "You gonna turn into a bunny boiler as well?"
"Well, I boil something, just never innocent bunnies."
I smirked. "Good to know."
"I mean, Indy, don't get me wrong, you're fucking beautiful, but why do you get stalkers? One is nuts, two? Insane."
"I'm nice to people. It causes problems.” Of course, Shane hadn’t been like David at all.
He’d been aggressive.
Things always turned out that way, didn’t they? Until I ended them.
"I knew you were too at ease with that fuck." He blew out a breath. "Of all the things that's happened today, that messes with my head the most."
Amused, despite the situation, despite the chatter about something that had caused me a lot of distress for a long time, and despite the fact that Shane had managed to hurt me, badly, which was why I hurt him first, I murmured, "Glad to be of service."
He studied me, a little like I imagined him studying a problem he needed to solve and couldn't. Now I knew about his education, it fit.
Cruz was a cut above. Calm, not because it was in his nature to be restful, but because, I recognized, he was analytical. Chasing answers and finding solutions when I’d just thought him to be a lowly bartender who didn’t have many outside concerns.
“Nyx told me something about you today. He said your mom dying brought you home, but you were different. Changed. And he didn't think it was to do with them."
"I had to grow up a lot when they died," I corrected. "Caleb needed a sister, not some lunatic. But you're right, it happened about a year earlier. Shane..." I cleared my throat. "Died."
"Scissors again?" he queried. "Should I start hiding them from you?"
My nose crinkled. "No. A car jack."
His eyes flared wide. "A car jack?" He leaned forward at that, his curiosity clear. "What the hell happened?"
"He slit my tires and when I was changing them, offered me a ride home. I told him where to go, he tried to drag me in the car so he could… I was having an issue getting the jack in place anyway, and it was the nearest thing on hand."
"What happened?"
"He died," I repeated stonily. "But that time, I contacted the cops and told them everything. It wasn't as bad as I thought, not at first, then after a while, they started saying I was known for leading guys on."
He hissed at that, then growled, "Fuckers."
"Yeah. I
was nervous with David, because I knew the cops would look at my record, at my ties which weren't well known by the cops down in the South, but I just knew it wouldn't look good.
"They'd call me a Black Widow, when it wasn't my fault." Because I couldn’t deal with those memories today, blurted out, "Do you think Tatána was the one spying on the Sinners?"
He nodded. "I do. It fits. Ties shit up neatly too. I mean, if she hadn't died, and she was the one spying, there's no way the MC would have let her live."
That had me grimacing. "Such a shame. He was using her, and she was probably looking for what Ghost has found in Mav."
"I think it's more likely she was looking for a green card," he said wryly.
I winced. "I feel bad saying that. After what she's gone through, doesn't she deserve a bit of the Land of the Free?"
"Well, she got it if that was what she wanted." He pinned me in place with a look. "Just to a more canonical level than anticipated."
I scowled at him. "Harsh, Cruz. Harsh."
He shrugged. "She was spying on us, with a man who was stalking you. That isn't the behavior of someone we need to empathize with."
"She was a foreigner, tucked away in a country illegally, who'd been sexually abused, tortured and tormented for years, who'd been forgotten by her family, and lost to the world itself like she was a spirit drifting around. I think I can understand her reasoning."
A warmth appeared in his gaze that I didn't want to affect me, but it did. "Quite the advocate."
I sighed. "Yeah, well, someone has to be, don't they? And it's not like it will get Tatána anywhere, is it? She's gone now. What a horrible way to die." I shuddered, because I'd heard a diluted version from Giulia who'd overheard the conversation between Storm and Nyx.
In actuality, my sister-in-law was turning out to be a font of information. I guessed it helped she was as devious as me, maybe more so before it had been kicked out of me by life.
By the time I returned to West Orange all those years ago, after Shane, I'd just wanted a bit of peace and quiet.
Unfortunately for me, I'd attracted David before I left Nawlins.
Fuck a duck.
Maybe I needed to be with a biker because that was the only thing that would keep me free from these creeps who I seemed to attract like flies around shit.
Cruz : A Dark MC Romance (A Dark and Dirty Sinners’ MC Book 5) Page 28
