So Hot MC Boxset

by Blair Grey

  “That’s okay. I’ll be fine without it.” Taking a seat, I ate like I’d never eaten before. Savoring the flavors of the food, I actually enjoyed my meal for once. “This is really good.”

  “I love the house spaghetti.” He filled his glass with wine. “And the vino is also above par. Don’t you agree?”

  Taking a sip, I had to agree, “Yes, it’s delicious and robust. I’ve never actually taken the time to notice all the subtle flavors of the things I’ve put into my mouth.” I realized that sounded pretty tacky since I was in the business of putting human body parts into my mouth.

  Max didn’t seem to notice though as he stuffed a breadstick into his mouth. “Being a man who loves his food, I have to say that you have been missing out. It’s good to see you eating and enjoying the food. I don’t recall ever seeing you like this. It’s nice.”

  “Well, if I eat like this too often, then I’ll get fat.” I wanted to see what he’d say if I reminded him of something. “The boss wouldn’t like it if I got fat on him. No one likes a chunky pornstar.”

  “I beg to differ, Miss Diamond. There’s actually a huge fanbase for such women.” Gesturing with his hands, he made the outline of a woman of great size. “I like ‘em big enough to handle.”

  “I see.” It was hard not to laugh, but I managed. “Well, I’m glad some women don’t starve themselves the way I have to achieve fame and fortune.”

  “Yeah, you should stop starving yourself. Your fans will love you no matter what size you are.” His smile huge, it faded away as he saw the melancholy look I wore. “You miss him, don’t you?”

  “So very much.” My appetite had vanished into thin air. Pushing the plate away, I picked up the wine glass. “I made too many mistakes with him. It sucks ass to know that a little too late. He was the one, Max. The only one for me. And I let him go. Hell, I made him go.” Taking a long drink, I thought about how things could’ve been if I hadn’t belonged to the MC. “I’ve made some bad decisions. But pushing Ryder away was absolutely the worst one I’ve ever made.”

  “I don’t know what else you could’ve done.” He stopped trying to perk me up as his cell rang as it sat on the table next to his plate. “Excuse me. Mark is calling.”

  “Sure.” Sipping the wine kept me busy as he answered the call.

  “Hi, ya, Mark. What can I do ya for?” he asked with a chipper tone.

  I supposed the meal and wine had him feeling cheery. Me? Not so much.

  His eyes came to me as he raised one brow. “Oh, yeah?”

  I had a feeling the call had something to do with me and began to pay attention. I could hear Mark talking excitedly but couldn’t make out any of the actual words.

  “Yeah, I’ll let her know. I think she’s gonna be happy about it too,” Max said before he swiped the screen to end the call.

  My tummy had butterflies as I shivered. “Happy about what?”

  Making me wait, he took another drink before he finally released the information I so wanted to hear, “Well, it seems that a Hollywood executive has contacted Mark about you.”

  “And what do they want?” I couldn’t imagine what anyone from Hollywood would want with me. I hadn’t got to act much at all in any of the films I’d made. “Please, don’t tell me it’s someone from the Science fiction channel. If someone’s coming to invite me to work on some stupid land shark flick, I’ll have to let them down. I won’t do that kind of shitty acting.” It might’ve sounded stupid coming out of a pornstar’s mouth, but I had my limits.

  “I don’t think it’s like that, Miss Diamond. Mark said the woman asked if you would be willing to use your real name to make some real movies and make some real money.” He grinned widely at me. “And that means some real money for the MC. The boss is ecstatic from what Mark said. The woman will be here in the morning to meet with you before she makes a deal with the MC for you.”

  A woman? Like the woman who’d called me?

  “I bet Moretti is ecstatic.” And now, so was I.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Ryder

  I’d never been so nervous in my life. Sitting inside of an Atlantic City hotel room, Hailey and I waited for the nine o’clock hour to come. That was the time she’d set up to meet with Janeen. Pretending to be a Hollywood executive who was interested in her, Hailey was going to make sure Janeen was nowhere near the Wicked Warlock’s headquarters when the bust went down.

  Lucas came into the room, wearing a broad smile. “So, are you excited to see your girl again, Ryder?” He clapped his hands with excitement. “She’s going to freak out when she sees that you’re alive. And when she finds out what you’re going to do for her, she’ll be over the moon.”

  “Overwhelmed is more like it.” He might’ve been excited, but I was terrified. “And mad. I think she’s going to be furious with me for not contacting her to let her know that it was all fake on my part. A week had gone by with her thinking I’m dead. She’ll be sure to bring that up. I know she will. And she’ll probably slap the shit out of me for waiting this long to let her know that I’m alive.” Or punch me in the throat. Yeah, probably that.

  Hailey just shook her head. “No, she’ll be happy to see you aren’t dead. I’m sure she’ll hug and kiss you and when she finds out how you’re going to get her out of this nightmare of a life as a porno actress, she’ll kiss you some more.”

  The woman amazed me. “You know, you’re taking this very well, Hailey. I mean, it’s a little crushing how well you’re taking my being in love with another woman. The ink isn’t even dry on the divorce papers yet. Can’t you at least pretend that you’re a little bit upset that I’m in love?”

  “No way.” Her eyes went to Lucas as he filled a cup of coffee, not even paying any attention to her. “I want you to have what I have, Ryder. Being in love – real love – is the best. There’s nothing like it. I want you to feel that too. Even if the love we had wasn’t the kind you get married for, we still had some love. And I still love you and want you to be happy. Why not be happy with the first woman you ever fell in love with?”

  “Yeah.” Although Lucas and Hailey thought things would work out just fine with Janeen and me, I knew time would have to be given to the woman I truly loved. She’d been through a lot in the years we’d been apart. Too much advantage had been taken of her. I didn’t want to be another person to do that to her. “I hope it all works out. But I’m not betting on that happening anytime soon. Janeen needs space and time to get through things.”

  “You’ve become a very understanding man, Ryder.” The look on Hailey’s face let me know that she was proud of me. “I’d like to think that I had something to do with all the growing you’ve done in the last year.” And it seemed that she was pretty proud of herself as well.

  As much as I would’ve liked to have taken all the credit for how much I’d grown as a human being, I had to give her credit where credit was due. “Yes, I do have you to thank for helping me become a better man, Hailey.” I had to thank Lucas as well. “You too, Chap. You’ve made me understand things I never did before. That’s why I know what I have to do with Janeen. As much as I would love to grab her up and put her sweet ass on the back of my bike and ride off into the sunset with her, I know this isn’t the right time for that.”

  Hailey frowned. “But you will do that eventually, right?”

  I had no idea how much damage Janeen had. Nor had I any idea how much time she’d need to make things as right as they could be inside her mind again. “I wish I knew for sure. The fact is that I don’t know what she’ll want or need. But I do know what she needs for now and that’s all I can do.”

  Lucas looked at his cell as it dinged with a text. “Clyde is about to lead the DEA into the building. Shit!”

  Hailey stood up and went to the door. “Maybe she’s in the café and just forgot to text me to tell me that.” We’d gotten a room close enough to be able to see into the little café attached to the hotel lobby. “No, she’s not there. Damn!”
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  “Look, the authorities won’t take in everyone. And Janeen has no ties to the drug operation. There’s no reason to even detain her.” But I hadn’t wanted her to go through any of the shit that was about to come down on everyone in the Wicked Warlocks’ headquarters.

  I’d worn a disguise to Atlantic City so that no one would recognize me. “I’ll go out and see if she’s walking down the street. Give her a call, Hailey. Ask if she’s left yet. If she hasn’t, Lucas you let Clyde know to give me some time to get her out.”

  “I’ll do what I can,” Lucas said before I left the room.

  Wearing a long blonde wig, I had on a baseball cap and dark sunglasses to hide my eyes. Passing a mirror in the hallway, I didn’t even recognize myself. “She’ll never know it’s me. Unless I talk.” I hadn’t thought it through all the way.

  Going out of the lobby door, I could see the front of the building the DEA would soon take over. My cell rang and I saw that it was Hailey. “Yeah?”

  “She’s not coming. She didn’t take my call, she texted me that she wasn’t interested in anything I had to offer.” With a huff, she added, “I have to talk to her to let her know what’s really going on here.”

  Thinking about what she could say to Janeen to get her to leave the building to come to see her, I blurted out, “Text her that Camden is calling and she’s to meet you right away at the hotel café.” That was the only thing I could think of.

  “I’ll try that. Don’t go inside the building, Ryder. If any of those bikers recognize you, you’re dead for real this time,” she cautioned me.

  “I know.” Putting the phone back into my pocket, I knew then that there wasn’t a damn thing that I could do. Janeen was still inside the building and now I saw the car doors of the black SUV’s opening up to let out the agents who would soon have the building locked down.

  “Camden?” I heard a female voice say sharply. As I slowly turned around, I saw Janeen. Not the glammed up Janeen – or Diamond – I’d left behind. The real Janeen who wore no makeup, had on a ball cap and jeans and smiled as she looked at the cell phone in her hand. “Camden is calling huh?”

  Oblivious to me, she kept looking at the phone. Then she tapped in something before walking on. I followed her, staying back far enough so that she wouldn’t notice me.

  I noticed plenty about her though. She had a duffle bag hung across her body one way and a purse hung across her body the other way. Janeen was going somewhere and she was all alone. No Max anywhere around.

  Texting Hailey, I let her know that Janeen was safely out of the building, but she wasn’t heading to the hotel the way we’d wanted her to.

  Hailey called me and I answered, “Yeah?”

  “She didn’t answer me when I texted her what you told me to. What is up with her,” she asked.

  “I’m not sure. But her bodyguard isn’t with her. Hell, she doesn’t look much like the woman I left here. She looks more like the girl I used to know in high school.” I watched as she crossed the street, then went down another road. “She definitely on her way to somewhere. At least it seems like she’s left the MC all on her own. But they can’t know about that. They would never allow her to leave. I know that for sure.”

  Hailey laughed loudly. “She made the decision to leave them on her own, Ryder! This is great.”

  She was right, it was great. But not so great for me. Janeen was on her way to a new life. A life without the security the MC had given her. A life without the worries that were about to befall the MC she was leaving. A life without me.

  My chance to show her that I was alive and well was no more. She’d proven that she didn’t need me to come to rescue her. She was rescuing herself. And I would be damned if I took that away from her.

  “Hailey, I’m not sure where she’s going, but I’m going to follow her. I’ll keep you informed where I’m going. Can you and Lucas follow along in the car? I’ll need a ride home once I make sure she’s gotten safely to wherever she’s going.” Watching her proud stride, I knew she was in her own little world. A world she was making into what she wanted it to be.

  “Will do. We’ll get into the car now. Our mission here seems to have been a bust,” Hailey said, but she didn’t sound unhappy about it. “Wow. We’ve just walked outside and the scene at the Wicked Warlocks’ building is nightmarish. Glad she’s not in there. And glad their drug-making days are over for the time being.” A moment went by before she said, “And damn glad you kicked the short-term cocaine habit you came back to Baltimore with. Proud of you, Ryder.”

  “Yeah, me too.” I was proud of myself for seeing the drug for what it really was. Sometimes we think something can make us a better form of ourselves. But in reality, only we can do that. No drugs are necessary to make you the best you that you can be. “She’s going into the parking lot of a grocery store.” I didn’t understand why she’d be doing that. “Shit! She’s getting into the backseat of a car!”

  “Send me your location and we’ll get to you ASAP,” Hailey commanded me. “Lucas, let’s get our asses to the car now. She’s on the move.”

  After sending Hailey my location, I felt the air leave my lungs as I watched the car take off with the woman I loved in it. I couldn’t take not knowing where she was headed.

  I had her number but still didn’t want to call and ruin this moment for her. When the car pulled into a gas station across the street I could breathe again. “Hailey, you guys hurry. The car stopped and the driver is putting gas in the tank.”

  “We’re in the car,” she let me know. “Our ETA is three minutes. You didn’t get far at all, thank goodness.”

  As I waited for Lucas’ car to show up, I couldn’t stop looking at the car that held my girl. What is she doing?

  I hoped like hell that whatever it was, that it was better than what she was leaving behind. Most things would be better than what she was leaving behind. But not knowing was brutal.

  A car stopped in front of me and I saw Hailey waving at me. Running to get into the backseat, I pointed out the car we needed to follow. “She’s in the blue Toyota.”

  Hailey tapped away on her phone then sighed. “It’s an Uber. She’s getting a ride to someplace.”

  An Uber was much better than getting into a car with some random stranger. Not that I thought Janeen was stupid and would do something that reckless.

  The driver got back into the car and they took off. “Let’s follow them. I have to see where she goes, or I’ll go nuts.”

  Turning to look at me, Hailey asked what seemed like a simple question, “Why not just call her and tell her that you’re alive and right behind her, Ryder?”

  “I can’t do that. Not yet.” I knew that letting Janeen think that I was dead wasn’t going to win me any brownie points. “After I see where she’s going, I’ll decide if I’m going to let her know the truth or not.”

  Hailey’s eyes went wide. “You might not let her know that you’re alive? That’s a terrible idea.”

  “She may have another agenda that I shouldn’t be a part of, Hailey. What if she never told me about some other man she loved? Things like that can happen.” I knew they could. “What if she’s on her way to him right now? What if she called him after finding out I was dead? What is she did that because she realized that life was too short to waste doing things you don’t even want to do?”

  With a nod, Hailey seemed to be agreeing with me. “What is she is on her way to the man she loves second best in this world, thinking that you’re no longer in it? What if she could spend the rest of her life with you, instead of this other man who she only loves half as much as she loves you? What then? And who would be wasting their precious time here on Earth then? Her or you? Or both of you?”

  She wasn’t wrong. But she wasn’t exactly right either. “Hailey, I’m just not sure what the best thing to do is yet. I’ve got to see where she’s going before I know what I should do.”

  Without trying to sway my decision, we rode the rest of the way in rela
tive silence as we followed the small car in an old but familiar direction. And as we pulled off the highway to go into Camden, I still wasn’t sure what Janeen was doing.

  Until we started heading toward our old neighborhood. I pointed out the house I’d grown up in, “That yellow house right there was the home we lived in when I was a kid.”

  The Toyota stopped in front of the house right next to it and we stopped far enough back so no one would know we’d been following them for miles and miles.

  Lucas grinned as an older woman opened the front door on the home Janeen had stopped in front of. “Could that be her mother, Ryder?”

  “It is her.” My heart burst with something I hadn’t felt anything exactly like before. “Janeen has come home. She made it all on her own.”

  Hailey looked back at me. “So, now do you want to show her that you’re alive?”

  Shaking my head, I knew I had to let Janeen find herself again. And I knew she was in the right place to do that now. “Not right now. I’ve got to give her time.”

  Hailey’s jaw dropped. “Really? And how much time do you think she’s going to need? Or want, for that matter? Ryder, she thinks you’re dead.”

  “And that’s rough, I know. But if she knew that I was alive, she wouldn’t take the time to do this for herself.” I knew one thing for certain now. “I love that woman unconditionally. Her happiness comes before my own. I don’t know what will happen with us or if anything will. But I know that seeing her on the road she’s taken makes my heart feel whole and full in a way it never has before.”

  I wish you only the best, my one true love.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Janeen

  Watching my mother cook breakfast after sleeping the night away in my old bedroom felt like a dream. “Waffles too?” She’d outdone herself. “Mom, you didn’t have to make all this. Bacon, eggs, and waffles. You’ve got to let me make lunch. And by make, I mean take you and Dad out for lunch. I’m dying to get a big, juicy McManus Burger.” Ryder and I had practically lived at the burger joint.