So Hot MC Boxset

by Blair Grey

  The cop looked at me for a long moment. “We had a few calls yesterday about you. A man called asking if we’d found your body. And then a couple of women called asking about if we’d found you or not. It was very interesting, to say the least. So, what’s that about?”

  Now it was my time to lie. “My dad is so overprotective. I’m thirty-five by the way. See, I left my parents’ home to move in with Carl the night before last. That’s probably why you got the weird phone calls. I’d left without telling them. I just didn’t want all the hassle, you know?”

  “Geeze.” He smiled. “Yeah, I know. I’ve got a grandmother like that. Every time I don’t answer my phone she’s calling the station to see if I’ve been killed in the line of duty.”

  “So you understand where I’m coming from.” I was glad he could relate. “I’ll give them a call, so they know where I am and that I’m alive. I guess I’ve got to face the fact that I’ll have to deal with them sometime. It might as well be now, so you guys don’t get any more phone calls like that.”

  “That would be great, thanks.” He looked at the house behind us. “This is a nice place. I hope you two make a great home here.” He pulled a business card off the clipboard, handing it to Carl. “And if you need any type of security, I work in that line when I’m off.”

  “Thanks.” Carl took the card, putting it into the pocket of his jeans. “You take care now.”

  “You too.” He got back into his car as we walked back inside. “You came up with that rather quickly. Good job, babe.”

  “I thought so too.” I seldom patted myself on the back, but my quick thinking was something to be proud of.

  As we got back inside, he closed the door then rearmed the security system, showing me how to do it. “Okay, so you punch in this code and it locks the door.” He looked at me. “Can you remember that number?”

  “Yeah.” It was only four numbers. “And then what do you do?”

  “Then you put in the code to arm the system.” He punched in four more numbers. “Can you remember those numbers too?”

  “Yeah.” I had a great memory when I wanted to.

  “Good. That’s also my birthdate.” He winked at me. “Now if you forget, I’ll know you just weren’t thinking about me on my special day. So when’s yours?”

  “Um – well, um.” I knew I had a birthdate. “It’s in May, I know that for sure.”

  “You’ve got to be shitting me.” He ran his hand over his face. “You never got to celebrate your birthday? You never got told what day you were born?”

  “I know the year and the month.” I felt kind of stupid for not knowing the actual date. “That’s all I know. We never celebrated it. Arthur would say something like, you’re another year older, you little shit. And that would be that.”

  “He’s such a piece of shit.” Carl took my hands, pulling me in close, resting his forehead against mine. “I’ll find out exactly when it is. I’ll get your birth certificate from the courthouse.”

  “Carl, don’t go out of your way to do that. It doesn’t matter.” He’d already done so much for me that going to all that trouble was just too much.

  But he wasn’t having it. “First of all, I’m not going out of my way. Second, you need to know when you were born. Third, we’ve got to have that certificate so we can get our marriage license. See, you do need it.”

  My father must not have gotten into his head too much if he still wants to marry me.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Carl

  One thing I knew for sure was that it was time to get rid of Arthur Kelly. I was not going to have him show up on our lawn shouting threats. But it was the way he talked to Britt that really made it clear to me that he had to go.

  Who talks the way he did to their daughter?

  I watched her as she ate the Monte Cristo sandwich I’d made her for lunch. “This is crazy delicious. How’d you get this batter on it?”

  “Magic.” I trailed my fingers over her bare arm. “I’m a magician. You didn’t know that?”

  “I had an inclination,” she said with a giggle. “The first time you touched me lightning zipped through my veins. I was pretty sure that was magic.”

  The same thing had happened to me. “Naw, that’s chemistry is what that is. Instant, undeniable chemistry.”

  “I like to think of it as magic.” She took another bite. “Is this ham?”

  Laughing, I loved that I could show her so many new things. “A Monte Cristo is just a ham and cheese sandwich that’s dipped in an egg and milk wash then cooked in butter in an iron skillet.”

  “Damn, baby.” She looked at what was left of the sandwich. “This is amazing. You rock.”

  “I do, don’t I?” I never got tired of hearing how I rocked. “As yummy as this lunch is, we’ve got some planning to do.”

  Her dark brows raised, curiously. “About what? I mean, there’re so many things we need to plan. So, which one is this?”

  I thought the most obvious priority was her father. “We both know he’s not going to leave us alone.”

  Gulping down the bite she’d been chewing on, she nodded. “Oh, him. Yeah, he’s not going to just go away and forget about us.” She grabbed the bottle of water I’d placed next to the plate and chugged it. “It’s good but the saltiness of the ham sure makes me thirsty.”

  I had to agree, “Yeah.” I looked at my empty bottle of water and got up to get us two more. “I’ll get us some more. And while I do that, you should start brainstorming how we can end this for good.”

  When I came back, she wore a wicked grin. “I think I should let him know that I’ll be giving you to him the way he wants.”

  For a moment – although brief – I wasn’t sure what she meant. “So, that’s it then?”

  “No.” She started laughing. “You should’ve seen your face. It was all, huh? And then it was all – for real?” I thought she was going to fall off the chair laughing at me.

  “I doubt I had that much of an expression on my face, Britt. I don’t think you would actually want to kill me, and you would have to do that.” I took my seat and slid one of the bottles of water to her. “Here ya go. Now, let’s get serious here. I’ll need to call a meeting and I want a great plan to tell them.”

  She stopped laughing as the seriousness of the situation came to light in her mind. “Hey, what if they vote no? Then what will we do?”

  I wasn’t sure what we’d do if my council went that route. “Well, the Irish Reapers have done more than just threaten your life now. They’ve burned down one of our rider’s houses. They called their FBI watchdogs on one of our businesses. And now there’s the little matter of them basically calling out a hit on me and using you to make that hit. So, I think we’ve got this thing in the bag. As long as we have a great plan.”

  Nodding, she looked like she was finally gaining trust in my MC. “Yeah, I bet you’re right. Plus, when you tell them how Arthur completely disrespected you, that should send them over the edge.”

  She was right about that. “If any one of my MC brothers had been here, then I doubt I would’ve stopped them from killing him right then, and there. But the thing is that I’m kind of glad that didn’t happen like that.”

  “And why is that?” she asked.

  “Because I would hate for something like that to stain your idea of our new home, that’s why.” I wanted to make her life so much different from how she’d lived thus far. Having a man murdered on our lawn seemed a little daunting to me. It being her father who was killed would’ve just made it that much worse.

  Normally, I wouldn’t have let a female have this much to do with planning a murder. But this particular man had done horrific things to his daughter since the day she was born. I felt like Britt would gain something out of being a part of his demise. I wanted her to feel the power over her father that he’d always had over her.

  “So, you want our home to feel like a normal home. That’s what you’re saying.” She shook her head slo
wly. “We can try to make it that way. I can try to be normal.”

  Pulling her face toward me, I whispered, “I don’t want you to be normal. I just want you to be the best you that you can be.” I kissed her softly. “I want to help you make all the wrongs that have been done to you right. I want to show you that the world isn’t this dark place that you’ve been taught it is.”

  “And I want you to show me all of those things too, Carl. So, I think it’s best if I act like I’m going to hand you over to my father. Now, how can we pull that off without either of us getting killed?”

  “So, you’ve only got part of the plan then, huh?” I smiled at her. “I thought you might have this whole thing figured out by now.”

  “Nope, you’re going to have to come up with some of it.” She looked down, getting a sad look on her face all of a sudden. “Is this wrong of me to be so happily planning my father’s murder?” She looked up at me. “Is this something that will send me to hell?”

  I hated how conflicted she was. But who wouldn’t have been? “This isn’t some cut and dry case here. He is your father. But he has done terrible things to you. Plus, he had your mother killed over nothing more than having blood he thought to be impure running through her veins.” She had to know what would’ve happened to him had he lived in any other world other than that of an MC member. “If he was just an average Joe, then he would’ve been gotten the death sentence for all he’s done. But our people don’t have judges and juries. We take care of our own business in our world.”

  Nodding, she looked grim. “That, you men do. And I know that you’re right. My father would’ve met his end long before now if anyone had ever turned him in to the authorities.” A bright look came over her beautiful face. “And what if we let them take care of him, Carl? What if I went to the police and told them everything?”

  She had a great idea. If it wouldn’t have been the Irish Reapers we were talking about here. “You have to realize that your father’s MC has their hands in the pockets of many officials and government bodies. Your father might get brought in for questioning. But he would get out before you knew it. And then what do you think would happen?”

  “He’d kill me. And most likely you too.” She shrugged. “But we’re on his death-list anyway so who cares?”

  “I want to see justice taken for all he’s done. I love you. I want to avenge all the wrong that he’s done to you. And the thing is that if he’s allowed to live, then he will only continue to do more hurtful things to you. And that includes trying to kill me.” He had to be taken out and I had to be the man who did it. “It’s got to be me who does the final act.”

  She gulped. “Maybe it should be me who does the final act. Maybe that would help end a lot of my problems.”

  I hated the idea of turning the woman into a killer. Standing up, I pulled her up into my arms, swinging slowly back and forth as I held her. “Britt, you’ve had a lot of trauma in your life. If I let you kill your father, then that load you have on your shoulders would triple. Taking a life isn’t easy and the faces of the people you’ve killed haunt your dreams. I won’t let that happen to you.”

  “But,” she tried to argue.

  I put one finger to her lips to stop her. “Plus, it’s like you said before. You’ve had so many sins made against you that you must have a get into Heaven free card. It might have a plus-one on it when you get there. I might need you to make me your plus-one. So, I’ll need you to stay as sin-free as you possibly can.”

  The way she smiled filled my heart with love for her as she ran her hands over both of my cheeks. “Carl Davis, you are something else. I’m sure you know that already, but it bears saying. You are one in a million. I am lucky to have your love.”

  “And I am lucky to have yours too.” I kissed her forehead. “You can help me make the plan. I think that part will be good for you. And when the time comes, I will let you make the call if the man lives or dies. I will give you that power. So you might start thinking about how you will rule when that time comes.”

  Looking shocked, she asked, “And if I say to let him live, then what?”

  “Then I will do your bidding, my lady. You are in charge of his life and his death from this point on. It’s a lot of power so I expect you to use it wisely. And make the decision that is for the greater good of humanity in general.” I thought she should get used to the power before she had to use it.

  Looking tense, her body went rigid in my arms. “This is really weird, Carl. Like, before I felt like I could totally take a gun and shoot my father. But the idea of telling you what to do is frightening.”

  I knew making decisions was a thing people who had been lorded over didn’t get chances to do. “Look, I want you to start making decisions. All kinds of decisions too. Big ones, little ones, ones that don’t amount to a hill of beans. He took that away from you. I’m handing it back to you.”

  “Carl, I don’t know.” She looked reluctant.

  I knew she would have to practice this. “Okay, so here’s the first decision I need you to make. We’ve got some chores that have to be done today. One is cleaning up the kitchen. The other is cleaning our bedroom. And I’ll let you decide what else needs to be done today. This house is yours to keep clean.”

  “So, I’m the new maid?” She put her hand on her hip as she stepped back away from me. “Because someone has been cleaning this house already.”

  She noticed that?

  “Okay, yeah you’re right there is a maid who comes in here once a week. How about I let you make that decision then? Do we keep the maid, or do we clean our own home?” I had to come up with some ideas on how to get her comfortable making decisions.

  She cocked her head to one side. “I actually think I would enjoy keeping our home up. So, we can let her go. And what about the lawn? Do you want to keep it up?”

  “Oh, God no.” I shook my head. “I work on my bike. I cook. And I will clean. But I hate to do yard work. That guy is staying on.”

  “I don’t know.” She smiled as she baited me. “I think you should do your own lawn.”

  “I might’ve made a monster in the making decisions department.” I grabbed her up, tossed her over my shoulder then carried her up to our bedroom. “I’ll make this decision real quick. You – me – bed – now.”

  “I agree.” She laughed all the way up to the room.

  And when I laid her on the bed, her silky, dark hair splayed out on the white sheets, I knew I was the luckiest men in the entire world to have found her.

  Love has never felt so damn good.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Brittany

  Carl had gone to meet with his council the next morning and came back with a unanimous yes vote from them. Our plan was simple. I was to tell my father that I was on board with giving Carl to him for my reprieve from his punishment. We would let my father make all the rest of the plans about how that was to be done. And then we’d fuck them all up.

  “I’m ready to make the call now.” I sat down at the dining room table with a paper and pen to write down my father’s directions. “Let’s do this.”

  Carl came to sit beside me. “Make sure you’ve got the sound all the way up so I can hear what he says without you putting him on speakerphone. He’ll know if you do that and he’ll know you’re not being straight with him. We need him to believe you. Say whatever you think you have to in order for him to believe you, Britt.”

  I knew what I had to do and say. “Okay, but please don’t get doubtful about me after I say what I do. It’s just an act.”

  “Yeah, I know.” He patted my hand. “So, go on. Let’s get this call done so we can get on with things.”

  I suppose my life’s struggles made me very different from most people. I knew I was safe in that house. I knew that I never had to leave it if I didn’t want to. And I was totally fine with that.

  Carl wanted us to be able to come and go as we pleased. He had to get outside now and then. He had to be a hell of a l
ot more social than I had to. But he was right – we couldn’t hole up in that house just to avoid my father.

  I knew that if I would’ve been alone, I would’ve just stayed put and hoped that one day my father would be killed by someone else or die of natural causes. But that was because I didn’t want to take responsibility for my own life, and I had to start doing that.

  Using the cell Carl had brought home for me, I called my father’s number. It rang so many times that it went to voicemail. I’d thought he might not answer a call from a number he didn’t recognize. “Arthur, it’s Brittany. This is my new phone number. Call me as soon as you can. I’m ready to make a deal.”

  I put the phone down and found my hand shaking. Carl took it, then held it to his heart. “I know you’re scared. I know you probably haven’t lied to that man much at all.”

  “Um, like hardly ever. I was afraid of what he would do to me if he caught me in a lie.” My physical reactions came from my childhood fears of being beaten and worse. But I wasn’t a kid with no power anymore. I was an adult. I’d been an adult for a hell of a long time now and it was time to start acting like one. “Okay. I can do this. He can’t hurt me anymore.”

  “That’s right,” Carl assured me. “He will never be able to hurt you again.”

  The phone rang and we both saw my father’s number on the screen. “Here we go.” I picked it up and answered the call. “Hello, Arthur. I’m glad you called me back.”

  “What do you have for me, you little fucking bitch?” I shuddered at his voice and what he’d said to me. He knew how to make me cower even over the phone.

  Carl bit his lower lip as he tried to remain calm. But his fists balled up on top of the table told me it was pretty hard for him to do.

  Taking a deep breath, I tried to steady myself. “You want Carl Davis - the Iron Cobras’ president and I can give him to you alive. I won’t kill him. But I will send him to you. But if I do, do I have your promise that I will be allowed to live my life any way that I want to? Will I have the right to stay away from you? And will I have the right not to work for your MC any longer?” I knew he would expect me to make sure I was getting something out of our deal.