by Faith Gibson
Mav pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “What do you say, Princess? Will you give me a chance?”
Natalia didn’t have to think about it. Her response was immediate. “Yes.” She untucked his T-shirt from his jeans so she could touch his skin. Skimming her fingertips up his abs and over his pecs, she toyed with the barbells in his nipples. “I like these,” she said, tugging. Mav groaned, his blue eyes darkening. She pushed his shirt up and leaned over, biting the metal between her teeth and flicking her tongue on the hard nub. After blowing on it to take the sting away, Natalia looked up, licking her lips. She had no idea where the sudden courage was coming from, but the way Maveryck responded made any doubt fall away. “How much time do we have before your brothers return?”
“Not enough.” Mav grabbed her wrists, removing them from his chest. “Not nearly enough for all the things I want to do to you.” He stepped back and adjusted his hard-on. Natalia’s eyes tracked the movement, remembering the feel of the metal piercing threaded through the end of his dick sliding over her clit. In the few times she’d had sex, Natalia had never given a blowjob. She tilted her head to the side, imagining having the piercing hitting the back of her throat.
“What are you thinking?” Mav asked, his eyes dancing as if he knew where her mind had gone.
“Why the piercings?” she asked instead of telling the truth.
“Because the fucker never learns not to bet with Kyllian,” Hayden said as he and Ryker strolled into the room.
Maveryck rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. She loved the way these two teased each other. She had noticed Mav interacting with each of his brothers. With Hayden, he was sarcastic. With War, the bond shined through in every word or touch. With Kyllian, he was playful, and with Ryker, there was respect, even if they didn’t agree.
“What do you bet on?” Natalia jumped off the island as Hayden pulled the drawing to him and started adding to it.
“Usually video games or shooting pool. The kid’s good, I’ll give him that. Just never, ever bet against Lucy at billiards. She kicks all our asses,” Mav said with pride.
“Considering I’ve never played the game, I don’t think that will be a problem,”
“Don’t worry, Lolly. I’ll teach you,” Hayden offered, his attention on the paper.
“You have a table?”
“There’s one at the clubhouse. Now that you’re family, I’m sure you’ll be coming by a lot.”
Natalia looked at Mav, and he nodded his agreement.
“I’m going to take a shower,” Ryker said gruffly.
“I don’t think he likes me,” she whispered to herself.
“It’s not you. Ryker doesn’t like anyone,” Hayden said, not looking up.
“That’s not true.” Maveryck took her hands between his, pressing his lips to her knuckles. “Being here has to remind him of Juliette.”
“Why would this place make him think of his wife?”
Maveryck’s face grew solemn. “When we went in to take down Gideon Talbert, Ryker learned the truth about what happened to her. Josiah has kidnapped Juliette outside a bar while Ryker was out of town. He was told she, along with their unborn daughter, died in a fire, but without proof, he never knew for sure. He had no body to bury. No closure. Gideon took Juliette to his compound and considered her to be his woman. She had the baby, but Gideon gave the child to a relative outside the cult to raise. Juliette escaped one night, but her car went off the road while she was being chased. She ended up dying by fire. Kerrigan found pictures of Juliette when she was snooping. The truth came out that his daughter, a young woman named McKenzie, was living at the compound with her adopted family. Mac chose to leave with Ryker and get to know him.”
“And now this mess with Cassandra.” Natalia felt for the oldest brother.
Hayden tossed down his pencil and went to the fridge. “Beer?” he asked. Natalia declined, but Mav said yes. It was barely lunchtime, but she didn’t judge them for drinking on behalf of Ryker’s pain.
After drinking his down in one go, Hayden tossed the empty bottle in the trash can and pointed to the drawing. “Here’s what the place looks like from all angles.”
Once again, Natalia was impressed with Hayden’s eye for detail. “You should be an artist.”
“He is,” Mav said. “Hayden drew all his own tattoos and most of mine.”
A pretty blush colored Hayden’s cheeks, and he turned to get another beer. As cheeky as the man could be, she loved his modesty at being praised. When he turned around, he popped the top off the bottle and winked at her. “My next tattoo is going to be a lollipop.”
Maveryck groaned and reached out to smack his brother. Hayden danced out of the way, grinning. He wasn’t done though. He bounced on his toes and added, “A lollipop wearing a crown riding atop a Gryphon.”
Natalia laughed, and both brothers joined in.
Ryker
Ryker exited the house through the back door. He walked far enough away he wouldn’t be overheard as he made the call. He trusted Lucy to come through for them, but he was ready for this shit to be over. Having a contingency plan made him a good leader. As soon as the electronic Hello came through, he said, “I have a problem.”
“And that is?”
Ryker started to say, “Maveryck’s gone and fallen in love with Natalia,” but instead he said, “Digger’s turned against us.”
“Turned against you how?”
“He’s helping someone from Natalia’s past try to kill both her and Maveryck. I know I agreed to let you walk away, but I don’t know who else to trust.”
Ryker was afraid they had hung up when there was nothing but silence. Finally, they said, “What do you need?” After telling them his plan, they said, “One last job, Ryker. Then you have to let me go. For good this time.” The call disconnected, and Ryker hung his head. Blowing out a breath, he made his feet take him back inside. He didn’t have clean clothes, but he stepped into the shower anyway. Being here at this compound brought back memories he swore he would bury. Losing Juliette the first time had been devastating, and then he’d found out the truth. It was like losing her all over again. He didn’t feel like he was cheating by fucking Proxy. His wife had been gone too long for guilt, but knowing who Cassandra really was and that she was using him tore a hole in his soul he didn’t think he’d ever come back from.
It wasn’t that he was in love with her. His one love had died with Juliette. Being with the woman had given him a false sense of being wanted. Needed. It made him believe he wasn’t so far gone that he was no longer capable of feeling something stronger than lust. Ryker thought he and War had something in common, sharing the loss of their wives, and then War fell in love with Kerrigan. Did that mean War’s feelings for Harlow hadn’t been as deep as Ryker’s love for Juliette? And now, Maveryck had gotten caught up in Natalia after he swore “never again.”
Feeling sorry for himself did no good, but neither did trusting his Gryphon when it tried to convince him there was someone out there for them. Ryker turned his face toward the water so he couldn’t feel the tears. He hated himself in that moment of weakness. Hated he let Proxy’s betrayal eat at him. But it was better to get it out of his system in private than to show his brothers how affected he was. He was a fucking Gryphon. President of the Hounds. He wasn’t allowed to be weak.
Ryker grabbed the new bar of soap and bathed. He didn’t have to ignore his dick because it hung limp against his thigh. He doubted it would ever get hard again.
After drying off and putting his dirty clothes back on, Ryker returned to the kitchen amid laughter and the scent of something on the stove.
His brothers and Natalia were laughing at two excited voices coming from the computer. Ryker couldn’t help but smile as the twins told their lollipop all about flying in Uncle Tam’s plane. Tamian’s pilot, Santiago, had flown the rest of their family to New Atlanta, where they were hiding out in Tamian’s home there. Major turned the phone around, focusing on a familiar redhead.
If Maveryck wasn’t in love with Natalia, Ryker would bet money his brother would be flirting with Tamian’s sister, Tessa, even though she was happily mated to Gregor Stone, brother to the American King. Tessa was another feisty female, and Ryker had to admit she was indeed the shit.
Ryker checked to see what Hayden had left unattended on the stove. He stirred the hamburger meat simmering with onions and peppers. He dumped the noodles into the forgotten boiling water, and added a little salt. Hayden was as good in the kitchen as he was with his art. Maveryck had been pissed when Ryker began training their baby brother to go on missions. Mav wanted Hayden to pursue an art career. But Hayden wasn’t having it. He said art was his escape just like building motorcycles. Ryker understood where Mav was coming from, but after talking it over with Sutton, he gave in to Hayden’s wishes. Even Rory thought it was a good idea for Hayden to know about being a mercenary. She said they never knew when one of them would need backup.
“Uncle Ry!” one of the twins yelled through the computer screen. He hadn’t learned to discern which boy was speaking, but by the volume of his voice, Ryker would bet money it was Major. He turned, and sure enough, the older twin was smiling.
“Hey, Major. Having fun?”
“Yes! Aunt Tessa said there’s fish here. We get to go see them tomorrow with some new friends.”
“Wow. I’m jealous. You’ll have to take lots of pictures and show me when you get back from your vacation.” It didn’t surprise Ryker that Tessa had insinuated his family into hers. War and Kerrigan had stopped in New Atlanta to visit Lucy when she was training with Julian Stone. The Gargoyles had welcomed them all into their Clan.
“Okay!” Major turned and yelled, “Uncle War! I need a camera!” Major took off running with the phone. The picture was bouncing all over the place.
“Tell your Daddo and the others bye,” War said.
The twins went through telling them goodbye individually, and before they handed the phone off to War, Marshall got close to the screen and kissed it. When he whispered,” Love you, Tolly,” Ryker was afraid the tears were going to fall again.
Ryker had thought Maveryck falling in love with Natalia was a problem, but in that moment, he recognized it for what it truly was – a blessing.
Chapter Thirty
Maveryck
Maveryck knew he was making the right choice with Natalia. After the way Jenna left, he’d sworn off getting into another relationship, but there was no way he was letting his Princess go. She was the perfect mixture of tough and sweet. She reminded him of his mother, and that was a good thing in his opinion. Rory was the standard all women should be held to. He only hoped that one day soon his mom would embrace Natalia the way she had Kerrigan. He also prayed to Zeus his older brother would eventually find the one woman who would heal Ryker’s heart. Mav hated knowing Cassandra had used Ryker. That had to be devastating. When Ryker returned from taking his shower, he was more withdrawn than usual. He laughed at the twins on the video call, but weariness was etched around his eyes.
Tank arrived just as they sat down to eat lunch. He called from the access road so they would know it was him driving onto the property. After unloading all their bags, he parked his SUV in the barn beside the rental. Once they finished eating, the five of them walked through the town, marking the places they planned to hide. Lucy had sent word to the Hounds about Digger’s betrayal. With Julian’s help, she set up an alert that notified her of any call immediately made once the Hounds read their notification. Mav didn’t agree with betraying their trust in such a way, but Ryker explained if there was one traitor in their midst, it was possible there were more. And since Digger wasn’t using his personal phone, they couldn’t track him.
They entered the building which had been used as a school. There were four chalkboards, one on each wall. By the different levels of lessons written on each, the one room was used to house all ages of children. “How many kids do you suppose were here?” Natalia asked.
“If this group is anything like his brother’s, I’d say around twenty or thirty. From what Mac told us, couples who come into the group usually already have kids. There aren’t as many couples who get together on the inside, because men like Josiah and Gideon have a say in who can or cannot be a couple. Mac had been promised to one of Gideon’s guards, so when she and Elijah fell in love and Mac got pregnant, Elijah was sent away, and Mac’s baby was given up for adoption against her wishes.” Ryker leaned against the desk, looking around. “I can’t believe my baby girl was raised in this shit and that my grandchild is out there somewhere and I may never see her.”
“Does McKenzie want her daughter back?” Natalia asked.
“She’s torn, because she doesn’t know if the couple who adopted the baby is aware of the circumstances. If they are, Mac doesn’t give a shit about their feelings. If not, she hates to think of taking their dream from them. She’s more worried about us finding Elijah right now.” Ryker pushed off the desk. “The closet in here is large enough for one of us to hide in, but there’s only one exit. Let’s keep looking.”
The next building they chose appeared to be a dining hall. It was set up like a school cafeteria. There were three sections, and from what Kerrigan told them, couples sat in one section, men in another, and women in the final section. Unmarried men and women weren’t allowed to mingle. They were even segregated in their jobs. The kitchen contained stainless workstations. The refrigerator was empty with the exception of a few vegetables that were no longer edible. There were three ovens, but all smaller appliances had been removed. There were no utensils. No pots or pans.
“They must have been planning to move well before they actually did. Hawk and Spyder said it felt like they were gearing up for something, and that something was them moving. You can’t pack up a whole town, even one this small, in the few days it took between when Hawk and Spyder scouted and we all came back,” Ryker said.
“Josiah knew he’d be on our radar after we took down Gideon.” Maveryck opened a door and stuck his head in.
“This just proves they have something to hide,” Hayden said.
“I think we need to put this building on the list. The kitchen has plenty of hiding spots where they won’t see us until it’s too late,” Maveryck said. “There’re two entry points as well.”
Tank ran a hand over his head. “What about the cabins? We could each take one and put Natalia on a roof with her rifle.”
Mav shook his head. “Digger is probably going to come in his eagle. He will see her and alert Cassandra.”
“Not if I pick him off first,” she said. Natalia’s phone rang. “This will be Nix. No one else has this number.”
“And if they use the same voice distorter, we don’t know if it’s really your handler or if we can trust them,” Ryker said.
“One way to find out.” Natalia answered the phone, putting it on speaker. “Hello?”
“Natalia. Where are you?”
Natalia looked at Mav and narrowed her eyes. “Did you find out who put the contract out on Maveryck Lazlo?”
“I told you not to concern yourself with that. I also told you I need you to do your job.”
“That’s kind of hard to do when there’s a contract out on me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the fact that one of your fellow handlers is pitting Maveryck and me against each other.”
“And how do you know this?”
“Let’s just say we compared notes.”
“You… I need to call you back.”
“Don’t bother. I’m done.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean I’m no longer working for you.”
“You owe us, Natalia. We put a lot of resources into creating your new identity.”
“An identity that was supposed to keep me safe. Not only did one of your fellow handlers allow a contract to be put out on me, but they involved my cousin. He is no longer a concern, and as far as your resou
rces go, I don’t need them; I now have my own. With my cousins out of the picture, I’m ready to step into the role that should have been mine in the first place. Besides, I will not work for an organization that allows someone like Proxy to dole out assignments.” Ryker was shaking his head, so Natalia muted the phone.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he asked.
“Calling Cassandra out. This is not my handler,” Natalia said, waving the phone.
“Proxy? Are you certain?”
Unmuting the phone, she said, “I’m positive.” She muted it again, waiting for them to come to a decision. Natalia looked at Ryker. “Do you want to end this or not?”
“Let her do this,” Mav said. He trusted Natalia.
“Fine.” Ryker shook his head. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“Natalia?”
“I’m here, and yes, I’m sure. She’s not going to stop until I’m dead.”
“Then let me help you. Tell me where you are.”
“I’ll text you my coordinates. But Nix? If you don’t come alone, I’ll put a bullet in your skull.”
“I’ll be there in three hours.” The call disconnected.
“How the hell would she know how soon she could be here without the coordinates?” Tank asked.
“Because someone has already tipped her off,” Ryker said. “And how did you know it wasn’t Nix?” he asked Natalia.
“Nix has never once called me Natalia. It’s always Myshka. And how do you know someone has tipped her off?”
If Maveryck hadn’t been looking at his brother, he would have missed the tiny flinch. “Yes, Brother. How do you know? We haven’t spoken to Lucy.” Ryker narrowed his eyes at Maveryck, but Mav wasn’t backing down. “This is our lives on the line,” Mav said, gesturing between him and his Princess. “If you know something, now’s the time to share. You might be my Pres, but this isn’t MC business. This is fucking personal, Ry.”
“You think I don’t know that? You think I don’t feel guilty that Cassandra used me to get to you?” Ryker took a deep breath and when he continued, his voice was softer, but his face was still haunted. Ryker’s phone rang. When he looked at the caller ID, he sighed. “Talk to me… Fuck… No, that’s it.”
