So Hot MC Boxset

by Blair Grey

  He chewed on his lower lip. “We can lock the doors and we’re two good-sized men. Do you think that little thing could best us both?”

  I had no idea. “If you think it’s a good idea, I’ll allow it.”

  “I do think it’s a good idea.” He smiled, happy with himself for getting me to be more human.

  That was the reason he was our chaplain. His missions were always on the good side. Yet, he still had the heart of a badass biker who could drop a man from forty yards without blinking an eye about doing it.

  After putting the steaks into the oven to cook for a little while, I went to grab Britt’s clothes off the dryer. Johnny had washed them and the sheets we’d messed up the night before.

  I took the folded clothes into the bedroom. She didn’t even look up at me as she only eyed the window. “Thinking about trying to go out that thing, baby?”

  “Not sure. But I am wondering if it’s safe to leave it uncovered now.” She looked at what I had in my hands. “You going to let me put some clothes on?”

  “Sure.” I put them on the bed. “Our chaplain and I are making some dinner. Steaks and salad. I think I’ll toss some potatoes in the microwave too. Sound good to you?”

  “Nothing does. My appetite has pretty much headed south.” She leaned back on the bed. “I don’t even feel like getting dressed.”

  I couldn’t help it, I hated seeing her that way. So, I went to her, knelt down beside the bed then took her hands in mine, kissing the tops of them gently. “Come on, baby. Get dressed. We’ll have some red wine and you can talk to the chap. He’s got a good soul. Plus, you’ll be out of the chains. Won’t that be nice?”

  Her dark eyes came to mine - finally. “You trust me not to run?”

  “Honey, what have you got to run to now?” I tried to make light of her terrible situation which I had caused.

  “You’re right. I have to stay with you, or I might die.” She sighed, her chest heaving and her eyes shimmering.

  “This might not end as badly as I think you’re thinking it will end. We’ve got lots of power too. You might just be underestimating us.”

  “Yeah, maybe I am.” She pulled the chain up. “Can you set me free now? Like you said - I’ve got nowhere to run to.”

  I knew my head wasn’t clear where she was concerned. I had too many feelings for her to make rational decisions. But I had wronged her so badly that it warranted a show of trust on my part.

  Pulling the key out of my pocket, I opened the lock, setting her free. “There you go. Get yourself dressed, then come to the kitchen. There’ll be wine and great food and some good conversation too. I promise you.”

  I stood and left to allow her to get ready. And I as walked into the kitchen, I caught Lucas with a worried expression on his face. “I kind of overheard you. And I kind of think you’ve got a thing for her.”

  Shrugging, I wasn’t sure what I had yet. “We’ll see.”

  “No.” He frowned. “Carl, she’s the daughter of our enemy. She’s not a person you can ever fully trust. She’s been brainwashed to serve him. You can’t let your guard down with her. You know, having sex, falling asleep with her? That sort of thing would be very dangerous for you.”

  “Nah.” I didn’t see it like that.

  So, he enlightened me a bit more. “Carl, you’re the one who has single-handedly put her head on the Reaper’s chopping block. I mean - in her mind - you did this all on your own.”

  Shit, he’s right.

  Chapter Eight

  Brittany

  Even the tasty red wine couldn’t make the depression leave me alone. “The steak is great, yes, Carl. Thanks.”

  The MC’s chaplain was a very nice man. His smile was infectious. “So, Brittany, I want you to feel free to confide in me about anything. I’ve helped lots of people deal with PTSD. That’s basically what you have. It’s what comes from living a life full of tragedy, danger, drama, and that kind of stuff.”

  “Then I probably have PTSD in spades, chap.” I stabbed a piece of lettuce with my fork. “You might as well hear my tearjerker story, so you know what you’re dealing with here.”

  “Please feel free to tell me all about it. I’ve got nothing but time.” He sat back with his wine glass, ready to listen.

  “So, my mother lied to my father about being Irish. Her last name was Irish, and he’d assumed she was a full-blood like him. Only my mother had been adopted by an Irish family. When my parents went to her family to tell them about their pregnancy and my father boasted about their baby being a pureblood, her parents let him in on the secret my mother had kept from him.”

  Carl seemed stunned. “So it was her adoptive parents who told on her?”

  “Yeah. I don’t think they did it on purpose though. See, the woman took out a picture of my mother’s parents to let my father see who she came from. Her mother was Native American, and her father was a Russian man.” I took a sip of wine to let them digest that bit of information.

  Carl reached over, caressing my cheek. “Ah, that explains the wonderful bone structure you have.”

  “Yeah, I’m all mixed up. Some Native American, Russian, and Irish. And that’s the reason my father hates me. And the reason he had my mother killed. I’ve never met her adoptive parents. I’ve never met my father’s parents. He said he would never take a mutt like me to meet his perfect Irish parents. I don’t think they even know about me. They don’t have much to do with my father. His father isn’t proud of him in the least from what I’ve heard.”

  “I bet they’re not proud at all.” Lucas nodded as he took another sip of wine. “So, you’ve never met any other family member then, Brittany?”

  “Not even one. I know I’ve got a younger brother. I remember him. And I remember his mother. She was pretty. And she was all Irish too. But she had no idea what a piece of shit Arthur was until one night he beat the hell out of me and when she tried to help me, he beat the hell out of her too.”

  Carl shook his head and looked like he was sick. “I really hate that mother-fucker.”

  “Join the club.” There were many people who hated my father. “Sometime later that night, when all the men were passed out from too many drugs and drinking, she took their son and left. We never saw nor heard from them again. I wish she would’ve taken me too. She was nice to me. I told myself she didn’t take me because she knew I wasn’t worth the trouble or the risk.”

  Carl put his hand on top of mine as I’d rested it on the table. “I’m sure she wasn’t sure how she was going to be able to take care of her son all on her own, Britt. It had nothing to do with you.”

  I was positive that he was wrong. “Anyway, after that, Arthur didn’t ever get an old lady who stayed with him for any longer than a month at a time. And if any of them even looked at me with sympathy in their eyes, he kicked them out right then and there.”

  Lucas nodded slowly as he looked at the empty plate in front of him. “Brittany, you have years of therapy ahead of you, sweetheart. But the one thing that you need to know is that you can count on us. We’re not like the men you’ve grown up with.”

  I had to laugh. “You’re into the same kind of shit they are. Don’t try to sugarcoat things, chap. I am not stupid.”

  “Never thought you were.” He reached over to pick up the bottle of wine, topping off all of our glasses. “We are into some similar activities, that is true. But we don’t hurt women and children. We adore out women and children.”

  Carl agreed, “That, we do. I gave my wife the life any woman would dream about having. She had her freedom to do the things she wanted to. Plus, she had the security of knowing that if anything happened to me, she still had my MC brothers who would make sure she and my daughter, Sarah were taken care of for the rest of their lives.”

  “Lucky woman.” I pulled the full glass to my lips, trying my best not to feel the jealousy that started coursing through my veins.

  “She was,” Lucas agreed. “And she knew that too. All of our women
know that they are cherished, as do our children and grandchildren. Just because we live on the rough side doesn’t mean we treat people like animals. Most people don’t treat others that way. It’s important for you to be able to see that fact, Brittany. What has happened to you isn’t normal. You don’t have to accept it anymore. You haven’t had to since you became an adult. Yet, you have stayed. Why do you think that is?”

  He acted like I’d had a choice in that. “Chap, what you don’t understand is that my father told me almost daily that I was lucky he’d let me live. And as payment for the grand favor he’s bestowed upon me I will work for him and his MC until the day I die. I will make all the money I can make for them. In return, I’m allowed to live and have a room in his home and drive the car they let me drive.”

  “Wait, they let you drive that car?” Carl looked a little worried. “It’s not yours?”

  “It’s not mine.” I took another drink as that settled into my brain. “Carl! That’s not my fucking car!”

  Lucas held up one finger. “I’ll deal with this.” He left the room, pulling his cell out of his pocket as he did.

  “We’re going to get rid of the car ASAP.” Carl got up and came around behind me, rubbing my shoulders. “That was a rookie mistake on my part. I should’ve known they would own that car.”

  I thought about my purse and cell phone that were still in it. “My phone can be tracked too. Best to get rid of everything in that car. I can’t exactly use my real name and identity anymore anyway.”

  “Fuck,” Carl mumbled underneath his breath. “What a fucking stupid mistake. I’m sorry, Britt. I really am.”

  “I chalk it up to you not being able to think like real bad guys.” I took another drink, trying not to freak out and think the Irish Reapers were on their way right now and soon the men I’d had such a nice evening with would be shot dead and I would be carried off to meet my long and horrible torturous death at the hands of my father.

  Carl came back to sit down. It was obvious by the worried look on his face that he wasn’t often in the wrong. “I’ve dealt with lots of bad shit. And I’ve never made this many bad decisions at one time. It’s kind of uncharted territory for me.”

  “I’m bad luck.” I knew I was. “Born under a cursed moon or some shit like that.”

  “No. It’s not you, it’s me. I’m not thinking clearly.” He looked at me for a long moment. “You’re kind of in my head, Britt.”

  “Oh, that’s not good, Carl.” I laughed, but I meant it. “I’m not someone that anyone needs to get close to. It’s like this – I’ve always lived my life with the assumption that one day it would be my father who would end my life.”

  “This isn’t your fault,” he courageously tried to take the blame.

  Blame I was glad to give him. “Yeah, I know. This is your fault. But the thing is that one day, it was going to be someone’s fault, even if it was my own, that would have my father seeking to kill me.”

  Lucas came back into the kitchen. “Someone will be here shortly to deal with the car.”

  Carl nodded. “Take everything that’s in it too. We’ll have to get her all new identification anyway.” He looked at me with a little grin. “So, what kind of name have you always wanted?”

  I had never thought about that. “This might sound odd, but I’ve never cared to think much about my name. For one thing, I wasn’t called by it often at all. Arthur called me ugly names and everyone else called me Arthur’s kid.”

  “Nice.” Lucas rolled his eyes. “Robbing you of any identity from the very start. He is a real mental case that should be studied. I bet he’s got tons of all the dark triad’s dark personality disorders inside that big old red head of his. Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy – all of them at one time. I bet he used to kill puppies and kittens when he was a kid.”

  “Still does.” I downed the rest of the wine as I recalled how many animals I’d seen him kill just since I could remember. “I found this kitten one day when I walked home from school.”

  Carl held up one hand, stopping me. “Wait. He let you go to school and no one in your school ever saw fit as to let the authorities know how abused you were?”

  I didn’t know why he found that hard to believe. “Carl, you know how people are about the Irish Reapers here in Baltimore. No one would dare to accuse any of them with anything. For God’s sake, even the fucking FBI is afraid of them.”

  Shrugging, Lucas said, “She’s got a point. So, what happened with this kitten you found?”

  “I knew he would kill it if he saw it. So, I hid it in my room. I managed to keep it hidden from him for a week. I was ten at the time. I loved, Softy. That’s what I named it. One day, I came home from school, running to my room and when I got to my door, I fell to the floor.”

  Carl shook his head. “Don’t. Don’t do that to yourself, Britt. Don’t relive that.”

  “I’ve relived it so often that it no longer affects me. He’d hung it with an electric cord and left it hanging from the top of my bedroom door frame. Its fluffy orange hair had been burnt off its body.” I reached over to grab the bottle of wine. “I knew better than to ask him why he’d done it. That would only get my ass beat on top of the horror show I’d found. I took the poor thing down, wrapped it in some notebook paper then took it out to the dumpster to dispose of it. And I never ever took another animal home again. No matter how bad off they seemed to be, they were still better off than being taken to Arthur Kelly’s house.”

  “So much therapy, angel,” Lucas said as he patted me on the back. “But not to worry, we’ll help you get all the help you need.”

  Being so badly damaged had been a thing I’d hidden forever. I didn’t even know why I was telling them the things that had happened to me. I hadn’t even begun to scratch the surface and already they knew I needed tons of help.

  And then I got mad. Arthur had beaten me down for long enough. And even as I sat there, I was still letting him continue to do it. By reliving that shit, I was giving him power. Power he didn’t have without me handing it over to him.

  When I was a kid, I didn’t have any choice. But I wasn’t a kid anymore. And for the first time in my life, I had help. It may have come a bit unwillingly, but I had help. I had powerful men backing me.

  Looking at Carl, I found him smiling at me. “You know it’s gonna be okay, right? You know that you can trust me, don’t you?”

  I didn’t know if I could really trust anyone. But I found something in his ice-blue eyes that told me I needed to start trying to see what this trust thing was all about.

  Even as I opened my mouth to say the right words, the wrong ones came out, “Carl, it’s me who can’t be trusted.”

  Lucas nodded. “Unfortunately, you’re completely right, Brittany. You’ve been so badly abused that there is virtually no way that you don’t have some form of the dark personality disorders yourself. At this juncture in your life, it’s best not to make any huge decisions.” He turned his attention to Carl. “Like thinking that you might be falling for someone. You will find that the process of digging into your mind might make you extremely vulnerable. And what will happen once you find your strength is that you will have resentments against anyone you were with while being in such a frail state. You will see things you two did in a different way. You will think you were used and abused. And you wouldn’t exactly be wrong to think that either. So, in your present state, you’re as helpless as a baby. Anyone could get you to do anything they wanted – from oral sex to murder.”

  Although I didn’t think the chaplain was right. I did know one thing. I felt like I needed someone. I’d been alone for such a long time that having Carl look at me in a way no one ever had made me feel alive in ways I never had before.

  When Carl turned and walked out of the room, I felt his absence already.

  This isn’t going to be easy at all.

  Chapter Nine

  Carl

  Keeping my hands off of Brittany wasn’t easy.
But I’d done it. And I’d done it while being around her too. Proud of the self-discipline I’d managed to gain over my libido, I’d even been able to talk to her a hell of a lot more than I’d ever talked to any woman. That included my late wife.

  Maybe it was my age that had me wanting more than merely a physical relationship with Britt. Maybe it was the fact that she was so emotionally damaged that had me giving her more than I’d ever given of myself to anyone before. Whatever it was, it had me feeling pretty damn proud of myself.

  Two weeks had passed without any incidents happening at any of our businesses. With everything being so quiet it had me calling a meeting at our bar to talk with my fellow council members. “It’s been a nice couple of weeks, I must say.”

  Leo nodded as he sat on my right. “I’ve never gotten better sleep in my life. It has been nice. I know I was against this idea of taking Kelly’s daughter, but I’ve got to hand it to you, Carl, it’s worked out well, hasn’t it?”

  “I would say so.” Nodding in Lucas’ direction, I had to give him credit. “Lucas has really stepped up with Kelly’s daughter too. He’s pulled out all the stops and has done a ton of research to help this poor woman. You have no idea the hardships and horror stories Brittany Kelly has endured at the hands of her father.” It made me sick to think that anyone could do to their child what Britt had told me her father had done to her.

  Lucas nodded in agreement, adding, “As things have been going so well I would like to offer a suggestion of allowing Brittany her freedom. I think this would show the Irish Reapers that we’re going to reward them for doing as we’ve asked them too. Plus, I think it will help Brittany. Knowing that she can leave whenever she wants to would be good for her psyche.”

  “That might be good for her, Lucas. But it might backfire on us where the Reapers are concerned. She won’t be returning to her father’s home, after all. She won’t be returning to her job at the massage parlor to help fill his bank account either.” I wasn’t looking forward to the price that we’d have to pay for taking Kelly’s daughter from him.