by Lane Hart
No, I need to have proof first before I go and point a finger at anyone, especially a woman who could be completely innocent.
I’ll just have to keep an eye on Maeve myself, get closer to her, and see what happens while I work on her car as promised.
But if she is the one responsible for telling the Irish about the Dirty Aces partying with the Knights, then I’ll have no choice but to turn her over to the club.
Fuck, I hope I’m right about her.
“Now,” Malcolm says with a slap of his palm on the table, bringing my attention back to the meeting. “Let’s talk about how the fuck we’re going to retaliate.”
The men at the table cheer while all I can think about is Maeve.
Chapter Nine
Maeve
Being alone in my apartment, isolated from the rest of the MC as the sun sets on one of the shittiest days ever really sucks. The bar is closed until further notice, and the men are all MIA. All I got was a short text from one of the other club girls telling me to avoid the bar until I’m specifically told otherwise, in case it gets hit again while the men are out of town.
When I asked about how everyone is doing, she said she didn’t know. No one knows. The Knights have cut off communication with everyone, probably because they’re worried about someone inside being a rat.
And they would be right.
But the reason I want to know how the men are doing is not to go and report back to Cormac. I’m genuinely worried about them. I never meant for this to happen, for anyone to get hurt. Cormac said they were just going to try and scare the Knights out of town, not attempt to murder them all.
Too nervous to sit still and with no car to ride around in, I’m stuck pacing near the front door, trying to decide if I try and catch a bus to…anywhere. Staying here alone is driving me crazy. That’s when my phone suddenly begins to ring for the first time all day. I scramble to pull it out of my back jean pocket.
It’s a number I don’t recognize from Carolina Beach.
“Hello?” I answer quickly.
“Maeve?” a man’s deep, rumbly voice asks.
“Yes? Wirth?” I take a guess, remembering I gave him my number last night when we were on the side of the road. If I had his, I would’ve already called him.
“Yeah,” he says, sounding slightly annoyed for some unknown reason. “I just wanted to let you know that I had your car towed to my shop. I’ll start working on it tonight.”
“Thank you,” I say in relief, glad to hear another human being’s voice, one so kind and considerate. “But you don’t have to work on it tonight,” I tell him. “I’m guessing you’ve had a pretty stressful day. How is everyone?”
I hold my breath while I wait for him to respond. He’s silent for an incredibly long time before he finally says, “Recovering.”
“Good,” I exhale in relief. “That’s good. I’m so glad.”
“Well, I just wanted to tell you I hadn’t forgotten about your car,” he says.
“I’m sorry about last night,” I blurt out before pursing my lips to slow down before I say too much and end up getting myself killed along with my brother. “What I mean is, I’m sorry I was so rude to you when you were just trying to help me with my flat tire. There’s no excuse for it. All I can say is that I’ve had some bad experiences with men over the years.”
“Yeah, I don’t doubt that,” Wirth responds, sounding slightly less agitated. “Do you need a ride anywhere tomorrow?”
“No, I don’t think so. Nowhere I have to be. I just, I hate being alone.”
“You missing your guys? They won’t be home for a while.”
“Where are they? Is Hunt with you?” I ask.
“Can’t tell you that,” he says quickly, and I get the feeling that he doesn’t trust me. He’s a smart man as well as kind and hot as hell.
“Well, if you talk to them, tell them I’ve been praying for them.”
“Really, you’ve been praying for them?” he scoffs like he thinks I’m lying or just giving him lip service.
“I have. I went to church today and also lit a candle for the three men that were injured.”
“That’s, ah, that’s nice of you, I guess,” Wirth stammers. Then, he goes on to ask, “Are you the only girl Hunt fucks?”
“What?” I ask since the question is so off topic and out of nowhere.
“Were you trying to be his old lady?” he rephrases.
“No. Of course not. Hunt isn’t going to settle down with anyone ever. I may not have known him long, but I’m certain of that.”
“What about the other men?”
“Just spending time with them. Having fun,” I respond before I finally go and sit down on my sofa, giving my feet a break. “I’m sure you’ve had plenty of your own fun as a hot biker in the original Dirty Aces.”
“Not as much as you think,” he says, which I find incredibly hard to believe.
Wirth
I’m starting to feel like an enormous dick for thinking badly of Maeve.
She sounds honestly concerned about how the guys are doing. The woman actually went to a church and prayed for them today.
Unless…what if she went to pray because she’s feeling guilty? Isn’t that what some church-goers do – go to church to ask God to forgive them for their sins?
“Well,” Maeve says after declaring that she isn’t serious about any of the Knights. “I think you had fun with me.”
“I did,” I agree. So much fun that I’m jealous of Hunt when all she did was mention his name. She’s probably right that he doesn’t want more with her. Hunt seemed happy enough to offer her up to me, even when his boy tried to take her upstairs last night.
“Do you maybe want to do it again sometime?” she asks.
My dick swells against the zipper of my jeans at just the thought, giving me his answer. The rest of me, especially my head, knows it’s not a good idea after everything that went down, not until I know Maeve is trustworthy.
“Guess we’ll see,” I reply.
“Yeah, I guess we will,” she agrees.
Fuck, this woman has had too much power over me since the second I saw her on her knees trying to change a tire on a goddamn hill. If I don’t hang up with her soon, her sexy, raspy voice will have me getting on my bike and going to see her in the next five seconds.
“I need to go,” I tell her. “I’ll call you when I know more about your car.”
“Oh. Okay,” Maeve says, sounding surprised by my sudden attempt to end the call. “Thanks for everything, Wirth.”
“Yeah, no problem,” I respond. “Take care of yourself, Maeve.”
“You too,” she says softly before I end the call.
Staring at her banged up car under the bright lights of the empty, silent garage all afternoon makes it impossible for me to stop thinking about her.
I need to get out of here. Get some air.
Outside, I climb on my bike and race off toward Joanna’s house to check on Fiasco and Hunt. I haven’t heard from Malcolm or anyone in a few hours.
I’m not surprised when I pull up and see Nash’s bike hiding parallel to a big, green bush next to the cement driveway. I push mine up next to his; because even though it’s dark, there’s no reason to leave my Yamaha out on the street for a nosy neighbor to get the license plate written down.
I send him a quick text before I go up to the door and scare the shit out of him or his sister. Nash comes to the door to open it rather than respond by return text.
“Hey, man. You coming to check on the guys?” he asks when he strolls out holding open the glass door, leaving the main door open for the light from inside to shine on the porch steps.
“Yeah. Haven’t heard any updates in a while and was feeling antsy,” I admit to him.
“Come on in. Fiasco’s been in and out of sleep.”
“Oh yeah? That’s a good sign,” I say when he turns to go back inside and I follow him, shutting and locking the deadbolt on the front door behind me.
“Hope Joanna doesn’t mind another visitor tonight…” he trails off.
“How’s that going?” I ask him quietly. “Have you, you know, told her yet?”
“Not yet,” he whispers.
“What the hell are you waiting for, man?”
“I don’t know,” he says, turning around to face me. “I’m not sure how she’ll react. Until Fiasco is out of here, I think it’s best to not bring it up just yet.”
“Yeah,” I reply since I can’t fault him for being worried about her kicking us all to the curb for keeping that secret.
“Joanna’s in the bedroom with Fiasco if you want to go on in,” he says.
I glance around the small house and ask, “Where’s Hunt? He already left?”
“Ah, not exactly,” Nash grumbles. “He’s in the bathroom.”
“He doing okay?”
“Oh yeah,” he says with a grin. “If you listen closely, you can hear the sounds of just how much better he’s feeling right now.”
Once we stop talking, I can, in fact, hear a repetitive thumping sound and…soft moans from the hallway.
Nash clears his throat and says, “Joanna’s friend, Casey, has been helping with Hunt’s recovery in a multitude of ways.”
“So, he is obviously feeling better. Good for him I guess.” I’m also relieved because knowing Hunt’s busy fucking another woman is even more proof that he doesn’t have his heart set on Maeve. Or best of all, his dick.
“I’m going to see if Lucy can come give us a ride out of here once they’re finished,” Nash explains. “Unless Casey takes him home with her. Apparently, he was feeling self-conscious about the side of his head and ear being messed up. Joanna doesn’t approve of her going this far to show him he’s still, ‘an attractive, virile man that women will want.’” Whispering, he adds, “I think my sister is a bit of a prude. Either that, or she thinks her and her friends are too good for bikers…”
“She’s probably just being protective of her friend,” I tell him.
“Yeah. Maybe,” he agrees with a shrug. “Go on in and see Fiasco if you want. It’s a little quieter in there with the door shut.”
“Okay, thanks,” I tell him when I start down the hall.
Turning the doorknob, I slip into the bedroom and apparently startle Joanna. The woman who was lying fully clothed on her side facing Fiasco suddenly sits up wide-eyed in surprise at seeing me.
“Jeez, you scared me,” she says, clutching her chest.
“Sorry,” I whisper. “Nash told me to come on in. How’s he doing?” I nod my chin to the big, blond, shirtless man lying prone next to her, taking up more than half of her queen bed, sound asleep.
She lies back down with her head propped up on her arm facing him. “He’s in and out. Mostly out. When he wakes up, he’s in pain, so I give more morphine.”
“Lucky you had that here.”
“I had a friend steal it from the hospital pharmacy,” she responds without looking at me.
“Oh.”
“I took tomorrow off to keep an eye on him.”
“Thank you,” I tell her. “We really appreciate you helping him, even though you don’t know us.”
“You didn’t really leave me much of a choice,” she says with a smile when she turns to face me. “But the money was a nice and much needed surprise for me and Casey both.”
“Yeah, and it looks like your friend is breaking her own rule,” I remark, jutting my thumb over my shoulder in the direction of the bathroom.
“Sexual healing is a real thing. Or so Casey believes,” she jokes.
“Oh yeah? Then maybe you should try that with Fiasco,” I tease. “Nothing would get him up faster than a woman’s touch.”
“Not going to happen,” she says with a shake of her head before she goes back to staring at him. “Well, not unless he gets worse. He is incredibly handsome.”
“What God gave him in looks he took from his IQ,” I say with a chuckle.
“That’s just mean!” she whispers.
“It’s the truth. Just wait until he wakes up,” I tell her.
Fuck, I really hope he wakes up.
And until then, I’m going to do all I can to find out who is responsible for hurting him.
Chapter Ten
Maeve
There’s a loud knock on my door the next afternoon while I’m doing laundry to pass the time. I have no doubt it’s my brother since I’m assuming the Knights are all still out of town.
I’m not really in the mood to deal with Rian, not after he and Cormac lied to me, but that’s the thing about family – you have to love them even when you hate them.
Making sure it is, in fact, my brother, I put my eye up to the peephole; and all it takes is a flash of his auburn hair for me to start unlocking the door.
“You need to stop coming by here,” I say when I jerk it open. “One of the Knights or girls could see you.”
“Hello to you too, sis,” he huffs before pushing right past me, inviting himself inside.
“Have you forgotten that I’m also still pissed at you,” I say while shutting and locking the door. “No, not pissed, furious!” I then follow him into the kitchen where he starts going through the refrigerator like he lives here. “Since when did you become as bloodthirsty as dad?” I ask him.
Slamming the fridge door, he spins around to look at me. “Did one of them die?”
“I don’t know! And how could you wish that on anyone?”
“They’re trouble. Everyone knows it, especially you since you were up close and personal with them for weeks. But do you hear that sound?” he asks, putting his hand up to his ear.
“Hear what?” I ask, bracing my hands on my hips.
“Silence. No motorcycles revving. It’s peaceful again in our neighborhood.”
“They will be back, Rian. I bet they’re plotting against you right now, you idiot! They won’t go away that easily.”
“So, where are they? Who are they plotting with?” he asks, grabbing an apple from my fruit bowl and taking a bite out of it.
“I-I don’t know.”
“Bullshit,” he says between bites. “Are you seriously going to lie to your own brother to protect those dirty sons of bitches?”
“I’m not lying,” I tell him through gritted teeth. “And you have no idea what I’ve done for you and Cormac!”
“Oh, please, Maeve,” he says with a roll of his eyes. “Don’t act like you were some kind of saint before the night you stepped into that bar.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” I snap at him. “It’s hard to be a saint when our father auctioned off my virginity to the highest bidder when I was sixteen!”
Rian freezes with his half-eaten apple halfway to his mouth. “No, he didn’t.”
“Really? You think I would lie about something like that?”
“He was a hardass, sure, but he wouldn’t go that far…”
“He would and he did!” I shout at him. “There’s a reason why he wouldn’t let me date in high school. He made ten grand on my first time. Stood right outside the door of one of the hotel rooms down the street and listened, timing him! He gave him one hour to take my virginity.”
Shaking his head, he says, “I don’t believe that. You were daddy’s little girl. If anything, he was overprotective of you to keep you safe.”
I scoff because he’s so fucking naïve. “Dad took the payment in cash and then listened, but did nothing when I was screaming for the man to stop. He had to have heard me sobbing when he didn’t.” Tears fill my eyes, and I try and hold them back. They didn’t help me then, and they won’t do anything to change what happened now. “The first man to undress me, to-to touch me, was some stranger! Our father took my innocence from me that night. So yeah, after that, sleeping around with whomever didn’t really seem like a big deal.”
Rian opens his mouth and then closes it before finally he says, “If that happened, I’m sorry.”
“It did happen!” I s
cream at him. And the anger is what has the tears racing down both of my cheeks.
“Then I’m sorry, dammit! What else do you want me to say? Dad’s dead, so I can’t kick his ass for it. Why didn’t you tell me when it happened?”
“Because you were only ten,” I remind him. “You didn’t even know what sex was yet.”
“Oh,” he mutters.
“And I don’t want your pity. That’s not why I told you now,” I explain. “I just want you to be different from him. Don’t become an evil asshole that finds joy in shooting people and hurting them, okay? That’s why I’ve slept with all of the Knights, to help you!”
“I didn’t ask you to do all that,” is his response. “I would never ask you to whore yourself out.”
“No, you didn’t ask me to whore myself out,” I agree with a sigh, ready to drop the entire conversation. He doesn’t get it, and I can’t tell him that Cormac is going to find a way to push him out because of our deal.
Swiping away the dampness from my cheeks with my fingers, I say, “Could you please leave now, or are you going to stay and eat the rest of my food?”
“Not like you don’t have plenty of cash to buy more groceries,” Rian responds, still pissed that I have access to my trust fund dad left but he won’t until he’s twenty-one and more responsible, if that day ever comes. If it’s up to me, he’ll at least live to see his twenty-first birthday, and many more after.
“Right, like a few hundred thousand can make up for the hell he put me through,” I mutter before going over to my purse. I pull out all of the cash from my wallet and then take it to him. “Here.”
“Thanks, sis,” he says as he accepts and pockets the money. “Let me know if you hear any updates about the Knights.”
“Yeah, sure,” I say, even though I know I won’t as I show him out the door.
It was one thing to try and help Cormac to save my brother, but I won’t keep doing it if it means other people get hurt or killed.
