The Spark Ignites (MacKenny Brothers #1)

by Kathleen Kelly

  We follow him to the surgical suite and Maddock is sitting up, waiting for us.

  “How are you feeling?” asks Cherie as she takes a seat next to the bed.

  “Better,” replies Maddock as he reaches for her hand. He holds eye contact with her for a moment then looks to me. “Are Loch and Jamie here?”

  “How’d you know we’d summoned them?” asks Kyle.

  “Angus. He’s been in and out of here ever since you brought me here. The clubhouse has certainly had some upgrades since I was here last.”

  “That’s what happens when you disappear for three god-dammed-years,” I say a little more forcefully than I intended but seeing the way Cherie is looking at him and his reaction to her, pisses me off.

  “It’s a long story, Sean and I want to tell it but not until the others are here. I want to say this once and answer all the questions. Brother, I thought I was protecting all of you.”

  I can see the sincerity in his eyes. I’ve let the woman cloud my judgment. Nodding, I head for the door, only to have Kyle place an arm across the doorway blocking me.

  “Don’t go far.”

  “I’m not Prez, just going to check how far away the others are.” Something goes across Kyle’s face at the sound of me calling him Prez. He nods once and punches me lightly in the arm.

  “Good idea.”

  I head back out into the bar area scanning the room. Diesel and Rocky motion for me to come over.

  “Hey, VP, how’s he doing?” asks Diesel.

  “He’s awake, he’s a tough son-of-a-bitch. Any word on how far away Jamie and Lochlan are?”

  Our family founded this MC; the members know all of us, even those who are not strictly part of it. Kyle has always made a point of getting to know all the families of the brotherhood. As President, he’s made a point to find out about all of them, to understand them, and to know who can be trusted. Your family says a lot about you and your ability to walk away from them or bring them into the fold speaks volumes about who you are as a person.

  “They should be here by now. Can’t be too far away,” replies Rocky.

  “Beer?” asks Diesel.

  “Got something stronger?”

  “Whiskey?”

  “Now, we’re talking.” Diesel grins at me and walks toward the bar.

  The doors to the clubhouse open, I look up to see Jamie and Loch walk through them. Jamie has red curly hair and is dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt. Loch is tall, well-built and in a suit. You can see they are brothers but from different worlds. Jamie’s hair is a mess, and Lachlan’s neatly combed. When their eyes lock with mine, both smile.

  “About time you sorry sons-of-bitches got here!” I bellow at them.

  “I was told it was a matter of life and death, so I’m here,” says Jamie pragmatically. He always been the practical one, but after the death of Maddock and Heather he withdrew from us. It didn’t matter that I could prove the MC didn’t have anything to do with their deaths, he always thought we played a hand in it.

  “It’s good to see you, brother.”

  Jamie nods, the smile gone, it’s clear he wants to hear what we have to say and go back to the farm. Lochlan gives me a bear hug, lifting me up from the floor.

  “Whoa, little brother! You’re stronger than you look!”

  “Weights, bro, weights. The ladies love muscles and so do the men.”

  “Fuck that!” I say as he drops me.

  “It pays the bills.” Lochlan takes a step back and grins.

  “Heard you were dating some supermodel or some shit?” asks Diesel as he hands me a whiskey.

  “For a while.” Lochlan looks around, and stares back at me. “Why were we summoned? I’ve got work in Paris that I need to get back to.”

  “Is that what the cool kids call it now?” Smirks Diesel.

  “Why are we here, Sean? Loch isn’t the only one who has things to do. I have a farm to run.”

  “We know.” I throw back my whiskey and walk away from them. “Follow me.”

  I don’t turn around, I know they’re behind me. I pause at the door, hand resting on the front of it.

  “You need to prepare yourselves.” I glance over my shoulder at them. Jamie looks annoyed and Loch slightly bored. Pushing open the door I go through first.

  Jamie walks in, eyes wide open in disbelief. “Maddock, is that you? Is Heather here?” His eyes dart all around the room, taking everything in searching for our sister.

  “No, Heather is gone. I felt her leave,” replies Lochlan in a whisper. “How did you survive? Angus has been saying you’re still alive but…”

  It was hardest on Loch, he was Heathers twin. They were inseparable when they were kids, even had their own language. His eyes are filled with tears as he stares at Maddock.

  “No, Heather is dead. I’m so sorry if any of you thought she was still here with us,” whispers Maddock.

  Jamie closes the gap between them, dragging Maddock into an awkward embrace. Mad draws in a ragged breath and from the look on his face, he must be in agony but he doesn’t push Jamie away.

  Cherie stands and whispers something to Jamie that I can’t hear, he leans back to look at Maddock, nods and gently releases him. Before she sits back down she sweeps the hair off Maddock’s face and with that one gesture, I know she could never be mine.

  “Where’s Angus? We shouldn’t start this without him,” says Kyle as he drags a chair closer to the bed.

  “I’ll go find him.” I cast one more look at Cherie and gladly leave that room.

  Maddock

  HERE I AM SURROUNDED BY family and Cherie. I’ve wanted this for so long and now I have to confess how I got my sister killed. How I trusted the wrong people and my stupidity got the one good thing in this family extinguished. Cherie stands and is heading for the door.

  “Where are you going?” I ask.

  She stops and turns around. “This is clearly a family matter and I—”

  “Stay,” orders Kyle.

  “You showed up and have looked after him, it’s all we could want. You get to stay,” says Sean, shocking me with his honesty.

  Although I don’t like the way my brother is looking at her. I might have been away for a long time but I know my brother. Sean likes Cherie and with my dishonesty she just might be interested in him. She told me from the get-go not to be a jerk.

  Cherie looks at the others and they nod, she returns to her chair and I take her hand in mine.

  “This is Cherie,” I say as I hold up our hands, making it clear that she’s mine. “She was just about my only friend in the town I was living in.” I raise her hand to my lips and kiss it lightly then I turn and look at my brothers. “I discovered that Zed Fluid Systems were selling parts through a shell corporation to some groups in Iran. These parts could potentially be used to make dirty bombs. I told Colin Lamond, he’s the CEO of the company, I thought he was unaware of the activity. I was wrong. That’s what got Heather and almost me, killed.”

  “Why was Heather at your house?” asks Lochlan. He’s standing stiffly in the corner, arms wrapped around himself.

  “It was her car, it was making a noise. Heather turned up and I told her to take mine, that I’d take the bike and look at it when I got home. It was the morning after I told Lamond about the discrepancies I found in accounting. The FBI were already investigating the company, they convinced me to go into witness protection. They told me I needed to protect all of you. To play dead. I’m so sorry…” I’m looking at my fingers entwined with Cherie’s, no one in the room makes a sound. “I know it can’t have been easy to bury both of us. The emotional toll on all of you must have been horrible.” I look up searching my family’s faces. “I honestly thought it was the right thing to do.”

  Loch scrubs a hand over his face, Sean is looking at the floor, his body is taut, his face is a mask of anger.

  “I knew you were still alive. Witness protection leaves fingerprints on everything, if you know where to look. I hoped Hea
ther was still with us but I couldn’t find anything on her, not a damned thing. Now, at least we know for sure,” Angus discloses with a thick voice.

  Loch stalks out of the room, with Kyle hot on his heels. I look at Sean questioningly.

  “You gotta know, Mad, he’d take this harder than all of us.”

  “Fuck that. You should have found a fucking way to let us know that you were alive! All this god-dammed time and I’ve been mourning you. I’ve been blaming Kyle and Sean and this fucking MC. I-I’ve been—”

  Sean rises and embraces Jamie. The anger that is pouring out of him is palpable in the room. Jamie has always been the glue that kept the family together, it’s hard to believe he turned his back on them because of me.

  “Jamie, I was told again and again that I was keeping you safe. I believed that, I had to. You have to know the only thing I wanted was to come home. To see all of you.”

  “We have to let them know where you are,” states Angus.

  Jamie looks at Angus. “Who?”

  “Law enforcement, the Feds, somebody,” answers Angus.

  “Fuck that,” replies Sean.

  “If we don’t Lamond will walk, Maddock is the only proof they have. He has to go back,” states Angus emphatically.

  “Not unless you get the dirt on Lamond.” All eyes go to Cherie. “Well, it’s true right? Maddock won’t have to testify if we can get Lamond to confess or at least incriminate himself.”

  Sean grins at her, Angus nods.

  “Whatever you two are thinking, no. I’ll go back, I’ll testify,” I say as I try to sit up a bit further. The pain that courses through my shoulders stops me from any further movement.

  “That is why we need to do this. What if next time they come after us? It’d be easy enough to drive a truck over Sean or Kyle,” states Angus.

  Sean looks him up and down. “Thanks for that, brother. Have I told you I don’t like the way you think?”

  “Listen to me, all we need to do is get Lamond on tape or something. How hard can it be?”

  “Right! Like the FBI haven’t been trying for years!” bellows Sean.

  “The guy who tortured me, he said they have the FBI in their pocket so that may be the reason why they’ve never managed to get anything on him.”

  Angus looks down at the floor, from my bed I can see his mind working. It’s in his stance and the grim determination on his face.

  “He like women?” asks Angus.

  “Yeah, he did. Why?” I ask.

  Angus looks at Cherie. “She could be our decoy. Cherie could go home with him, drug him and I could tap his phones, bug his home. Easy, simple.”

  “Fuck no! Cherie isn’t going anywhere near him! Are we clear?” I growl.

  Cherie stands. “Everybody out! No one comes back in here until I say so. Are we clear on that?”

  Angus and Jamie looked shocked, but Sean looks like the cat who swallowed the canary.

  “Big brass balls, that’s what she’s got!” Sean looks me in the eyes and points at me. “You don’t claim this one, I will. Come on you two, let’s leave them alone, something tells me the lady has a lot to say.” Sean winks at Cherie as she ushers them out of the room.

  Cherie locks the door and leans up against it with a smile on her face.

  “Is there something you want to tell me about you and my brother?” I ask.

  Cherie looks taken aback. “What?”

  “I see the way he looks at you.”

  “Un-fucking-believable!” Cherie yells, putting her hands on her hips she strides toward me. “I travel here, with your brothers, the brothers I knew nothing, absolutely nothing about, for you! And this is how you treat me? Jesus, Eric! No wait it’s Maddock, isn’t it?”

  Her outburst makes me ashamed of myself but damn, if she isn’t the sexiest woman alive.

  “You’re right, I’m sorry.”

  “And—,” her hands drop from her hips. “Wait, I’m right?”

  “Yes, you’re right. I’m a dick. I see the way he looks at you and…”

  “Do you see the way I look at you?” Cherie whispers.

  Slowly, she walks toward me. I’m at a loss for words, unsure of her next move or what she wants or needs from me.

  “How’s your leg?”

  “It’s okay, not as bad as my shoulders.”

  Her change of conversation has me confused.

  “Can you handle a little pressure?”

  “I’m not sure…”

  In one swift movement, Cherie gets on the bed and straddles me. “How does that feel?” she asks as she grinds into me.

  “Like one of us has too many clothes on.”

  I have a sheet over my body, and apart from bandages, that’s it. Cherie, on the other hand, has a T-shirt and tracksuit pants on. I reach up and touch her face, but it causes pain to shoot through me. Grasping my hand, Cherie puts it on the bed next to her leg.

  “Lover, I can do everything, I just need you to lie there. Can you do that for me?”

  My cock responds instantly when her lips press up against mine. It’s a slow, burning kiss that sparks a fire within me. My hands go to her ass, and I move her, she responds by groaning into my mouth. Her tongue darts in and out causing me to groan. I want more, I want to consume her.

  “Wait, wait, wait. How are you feeling?”

  “Babe, if you can’t feel how I’m doing, then we are in trouble.”

  “No, I mean your pain levels. How are they?”

  “Tell you what, let’s get you naked and see what happens?”

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” she whispers as she bites lightly on my earlobe.

  “Blue balls would hurt me.” I chuckle.

  In response, she reaches down and pulls her T-shirt up over her head, exposing her breasts. Leaning forward I draw one of her nipples into my mouth, her moan and the way she grinds into me is the only encouragement I need.

  I reach up to press her closer to me, and instead of a groan of pleasure, pain shoots down my body, and I yelp in agony.

  Cherie sits back, looking apprehensive. “Okay, this was a bad idea.” She climbs off me and I am powerless to stop her.

  “Babe, no way. We need to be a bit more careful, that’s all, and that was all on me.”

  “We can wait till you feel better, can’t we?”

  Reluctantly I nod my head. “Yeah, we can.”

  Cherie’s face flushes. “Let’s talk about Angus’s plan.”

  “No,” I say flatly.

  “Lover, if I can help, I want to.”

  “It’s too dangerous. They’ve tried to kill me once and in doing that they killed Heather. I can’t let that happen to you.”

  Cherie nods and puts her top back on. I realize it must be Seans and I scowl at her.

  “Angus or Sean or one of your brothers will be there to protect me, it’s not like I’m going to be in danger. All I have to do is drug him and they’ll do the rest.”

  “Is that Sean’s tee?”

  Cherie looks down and nods. “Yeah, I was still in my leathers, he offered to get them cleaned.”

  “I bet he did,” I state roughly.

  Cherie’s eyes sparkle. “You’re not jealous of your brother are you? That’s, well, that’s ridiculous!”

  “You’re wearing his clothes.”

  “And not two minutes ago I was trying to make love to you. Besides we were talking about getting evidence, not an imaginary relationship between Sean and me. I want you, only you.”

  I close my eyes. I’m not sure who to thank for bringing her into my life, but I know someone sent her to me.

  “Sorry, I’m an ass.”

  “Yes, you are.” Cherie grins at me. “This plan could work, but I won’t do it unless you say yes.”

  Before I can answer the door opens and Angus walks through, we both look at him in surprise.

  “I picked the lock,” explains Angus as he shrugs and sits on the end of the bed pushing his glasses up his nose. “We’ll keep her
safe, if things go sideways we’ll just shoot his ass.”

  I glare at him, not happy with his intrusion and the fact he wants to put my woman in danger.

  “No.” I’m angry, and both of them turn to look at me with confusion on their faces. “I’m not putting Cherie in any danger, I’m not, repeat, I’m not losing her.”

  “Er-Maddock, don’t you see this is the only way we can stop them, for good? Honey, you’ll never be able to have a normal life if we don’t do this.”

  “She’s right, Mad,” agrees Angus.

  “They killed a US Marshall; you think they’ll even hesitate before they pull the trigger? It’s too dangerous.”

  Cherie and Angus exchange a look. I know I’ve lost.

  “You really think your brothers can’t take care of me? Honey, I’m practically in the MC all I’d need to do is some form of initiation, and I’m sure Kyle would sign off.”

  This causes Angus and I to laugh which causes pain to shoot throughout my body. In the end, it’s a cross between laughing and groaning for me with Angus laughing harder at me.

  I turn to look at her, and she’s stone-cold serious, no trace of humor anywhere on her gorgeous face. It’s like throwing a bucket of ice water in my face, I stop.

  I sigh in frustration. “What if something happens to you? What if I get you killed too?”

  From the doorway, Sean says, “We won’t let that happen. We’ll keep her safe. She’s precious; no one is laying a finger on her.”

  I glance up at Cherie, and her face has gone all soft at Sean’s words. Instinctively I reach out and grab her hand. Cherie’s eyes find mine, and she smiles. I tug on her hand, and she sits beside me, draping an arm behind my head. I look back at Sean, and smile at him, letting him know that she’s mine. For a moment he looks thunderous, and then he shakes himself and moves further in the room.

  Smirking Sean says, “We’ll wire her. I’ll do it personally so no one can find it.”

  “Like fuck you will.” I sit up straighter causing my body to protest with sharp pain, but I keep a lid on it and glare at him.

  “Will you two stop it?” asks Cherie. “Honestly, this isn’t high school. Angus can wire me up in this room with you watching.”