“It isn’t,” I agreed. “I was just thinking that you look like you could have a stroke.”
His fists settled on the table. “I feel like I’m going crazy,” he said rawly. “When I think of it—” His head whipped to the side like he was trying to shake the thoughts away. “Giulia says there are ways of making them pay without killing them, but their deaths… fuck, it soothed something inside me. I don’t know if wrecking their lives is enough. I want them to suffer.”
The statement had me pursing my lips, especially when all eyes except for Nyx’s turned to me. I knew they were looking to me for an answer, and I guessed I had it when I said, “We could dox them.”
“Dox them?” Link asked, frowning.
“Yeah. Reveal their identities online. That’ll set others onto them. We can torture them without having to get involved.”
“That’s doable?” Rex queried,
I snorted. “Course it is. Then there are other moves we can pull. To be honest, this would be best discussed with Lodestar because she’s a psycho, but you can turn off their electricity, switch off their gas. Cut off their water, crap like that. We could drain their bank accounts. Hell, we could send a SWAT team to their front door. And, depending on what car they drove, I mean if it’s new or not, we could probably mess with that as well.”
“Long distance?”
Pondering Rex’s demand, I nodded. “Don’t see why not. Lodestar and I can make magic when we hack together. Just haven’t done it in a long while.” Since before we split up. “Doesn’t mean we can’t make an appearance together for a worthy cause,” I said dryly. “But I don’t know if that’s enough. Nyx, what do you think?”
When he didn’t say anything, Sin muttered, “I know how that rage feels, Nyx. You know I do. We can work out together, fight, train. There are things we can do to help combat those demons because, God help me, I hear their whispers as much as you do.”
That wasn’t a lie. For a man to be capable of beating his father to death with his fists, that took a hell of a lot of rage.
“Plus, there’s always the Fridge. You could take over those duties,” Rex mused. “Maybe help Cruz with clean up.”
At that, Nyx pulled a face. “That ain’t my scene. Cleaning up after Indy was bad enough. Hacking through limbs isn’t how I wanna be spending my Saturday night.”
Rex snorted. “I know where to shove you when you piss me off then, huh?”
Nyx rolled his eyes. “You’re all heart.” He reached up and scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “Look, I appreciate the suggestions, guys. I’m probably going to have to take you up on all of them.”
“You thought about maybe doing something on the other side of things, Nyx?” I asked calmly.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean helping the kids in other ways rather than just killing their monsters?”
“Talk,” was his brisk reply.
I shrugged. “Kids have to go to court, don’t they? Have to look those sick fucks in the eyes as they testify against them? We could do something to help keep them safe. Shore them up, make them feel strong enough to do that.”
He was so still I wasn’t sure if he’d stopped breathing, then, he rasped, “Yes.”
Rex dipped his chin. “Steel?”
The secretary shot Rex a dazed look. “Yeah?”
“Think you can arrange that? Maybe figure shit out? Get Tiff involved, maybe Lily too? I think they’d have the contacts and some know-how. I think Lily told me once she had to help with foundations and charitable organizations before her dad died. Maybe you guys could brainstorm how to make that happen?”
He swallowed. “Can do.”
Rex shot me a look. “Good thinking, Mav. You and Lodestar will get to work on the doxing when things are back to some semblance of normalcy, right?”
“That could take a while,” was all I said.
“At least it’s on the books.” He grunted. “With that in mind, you can focus on London. I know Lodestar’s research on him pulled up kosher hits, but I doubt your Old Ladies would have gone to that extent last night if they didn’t think his shit stank.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “You guys are going to have to keep a better hold on them as well. We can’t have them rolling around, pulling stunts like that.”
“You try and stop them,” Nyx retorted. “Giulia’s got it into her fucking head she’s a Sinner, and that some shit is business only bitches can handle. Those are her fucking words.”
“Fucker of it is I can’t argue with the logic,” Link muttered.
“Course we can,” Rex countered. “Whether a traitor is a bitch or a dick, we torture them equally.”
“Women have ways about them.” Sin shrugged. “Link and I spoke with them about Tink, and not a one of them said shit. Whereas Giulia and her posse managed to worm out the fact she was in Mott Haven.”
“You get in touch with the Demonios Bandidos and asked them to keep an eye out for her?” Rex asked Nyx who nodded.
“Already done.”
“Good.” He sighed. “The trouble is you’re all fucking whipped. That’s why you can’t keep your bitches in line.”
Nyx snorted. “Yeah, I’ll remember that when I see Rachel shoot you down and you keep your fucking whipped mouth closed.”
Though he scowled, he didn’t reply, just rubbed his chin thoughtfully as the sound of straight pipes rattled in the distance. “Storm’s here. We don’t mention London in his hearing, but Maverick, I know you’re sick, man, but you gotta find out yea or nay if the creep’s a kid fucker or not.”
I nodded. “I’m on it.”
“Lodestar’s been saying that for a while,” Nyx complained.
“She’s sick, not working at full capacity, and was working on her own,” I defended. “Plus, if his front is kosher, then digging deeper isn’t as easy as you think. How do you find out a man’s secrets without it taking time?”
“He has a point,” Link remarked.
“It’s going to be a priority, but it could still take me three days of flat out working and I ain’t at full capacity either.” I shot Rex a look. “We’re gonna be slower than I’d like.”
“Think the Five Points would help out?” Sin queried cautiously. “One of the O’Donnellys is a hacker. Or so they say…”
“And gossip is always right,” Steel rasped, causing me to shoot him a look. The fucker looked strung out, which, after his earlier chirpiness, was weird.
“Not always, no, but we can ask.”
“Declan’s helpful,” Rex inserted. “He’s the reason I got out of the summit alive.”
“Let’s not talk about that today,” Nyx muttered. “My blood pressure already feels like I’m close to a coronary.”
Rex just grunted. “Either way, yeah, ask, Sin. See if they can help us out with London.”
The door surged open, revealing a glowering Storm who ground out, “You started without me?”
“Ain’t our fault our asses were early and yours wasn’t,” Link sniped, earning himself the bird Storm flipped his way as he rounded the table and took the last remaining seat.
“The Musketeers are back together again,” I said with a smile, earning snickers all around.
“I’ll take Rebecca DeMornay any day of the fucking week,” Storm teased.
Most of us grinned, except for Rex, who rumbled, “Okay, now that everyone is finally here” —he smirked at Storm— “let’s get down to business. There’s shit I gotta share with you, and I don’t want to. But… first things first, good news.” He peered over at Nyx. “The O’Donnellys pulled through for us. The governor has pardoned Quin.”
My brows rose at that. “You asked them for that big a favor?”
“Well, I took out their enemies,” he said wryly. “I think that’s the least they could do.”
“Jesus, Rex,” Nyx rasped. “Thank you, brother.”
Rex bowed his head. “You said he’s innocent, said he was framed, and I believe you. Heard from Finn O’Grady, a
nd he said it’ll take about a week for him to be released.”
“So soon?” Nyx wheezed. “Christ, that’s fast.”
“We’re dealing with mob royalty,” was all Rex said, but his gaze drifted to mine. “After our conversation, Maverick, do you have news for me?”
“Lodestar has cameras set up on our perimeter and so do I.” Rex scowled at that, but I waved a hand. “She’s suspicious of everyone, and in this instance, it works to our advantage. You aren’t going to change her,” I said wryly. “The driver of the truck who left your uncle’s case file at the clubhouse is a woman called Josefa Banks.” I pursed my lips. “She’s your aunt, Rex.”
He clenched his eyes closed. “Fuck, this couldn’t be any more convoluted, could it? Why the hell did she hightail it out of there like we were going to hurt her?”
“Maybe she was scared.”
“What the fuck are you guys talking about?” Link ground out, his brow puckered as he flashed his focus between Rex and me. A quick glance around the table confirmed everyone looked just as confused.
So I sucked in a breath and said, “You wanna tell them, Rex, or shall I?”
His jaw firmed. “You know more about it than me. Go for it. Blow their minds.”
Forty-One
Alessa
When I walked into Indiana Ink, I couldn’t hide from how different this visit was to my last one here.
The tattoo in the center of my back was something Maverick had yet to see thanks to the dresses I wore that covered it up, and he’d been more focused on my ass and the scarring there in the hospital to notice, but that one wasn’t for him. It was for me.
I was free.
Because of him. His family.
My family.
And today’s ink was different. It was for him, and he was getting one for me.
Branded.
I’d experienced that once, and the pain of it had been enough to make me black out. Today’s couldn’t be more different. Ink was so much less discomforting than molten hot metal searing flesh.
Turning back to look at him, I smiled when I saw that he was watching me. He did that a lot, and when he did, there was a joy to the look like he took pleasure in having his eyes on me. As if I made him happy. And if that wasn’t a breathtaking idea, I didn’t know what was, because I wanted to make him happy. I wanted his happiness more than I wanted my own.
“Back already?” Indy called out from the desk where she had her feet up.
Giulia laughed, and I saw she was standing by the coffee pot, which had me frowning. “Giulia! You’re not supposed to be drinking coffee anymore!”
Her nose crinkled. “I’m suffering through decaf.”
Suspiciously, I narrowed my eyes at her before I shot Indy a look. She snorted. “Yeah, it’s decaf. Bitch is making me drink that watered down crap too.”
“Keeping her honest, huh?” Maverick teased as he strolled over to the desk and perched his ass on it.
“That’s one way to look at it,” was her dry retort, and she smiled when he tossed her the keys to her Camaro. “Thanks, Mav. What are you guys doing here anyway? Didn’t expect to see both of you today.”
“It’s time,” he said simply.
“We’re getting brands,” was my excited reply when she just arched a brow in confusion.
“You are?” She beamed a smile at us. “That’s amazing news.” Then, she faltered. “Wait, I thought you already got your version of a brand?”
Maverick shrugged. “I did, but I want a different one.”
“You have a brand already?” I gasped.
“I do. The mandala on my back.” When I just frowned at him, he lifted up his cut and Henley, then twisted a little so I could see the pretty pattern dancing down his spine toward his hips. “Your name is buried within it.”
“That’s called a mandala?” I breathed, reaching out to touch proof that this man had loved me for far longer than I’d loved him.
Proof that he’d claimed me before I’d even known I wanted to be claimed.
“It is.” His eyes twinkled as he asked, “Like it?”
“I love it.” And I did. “Not as much as I love you though.”
Giulia snorted. “Pass me a barf bag.”
“Like you’re not as bad as that with Nyx,” Indy sniped back, making me twist around to laugh at them both, even as I kept the flat of my palm against his tattoo.
My brand.
Mine.
And he wanted another.
My heart felt so full of glee, so full of joy, that it was a wonder I didn’t burst.
Because Giulia couldn’t argue, her lips turned down into a sulky pout as Indy queried, “Okay, Alessa, what’s your poison?”
“My poison?” I frowned in confusion.
“She thinks she’s being funny,” Giulia snarked.
“These two always like this when they’re together?” Maverick asked dryly.
“They’re worse.”
“Christ.”
Indy rolled her eyes. “What ink do you want this time?”
“You already got a tattoo?”
Mav’s surprise was clear, and I shot him a shy smile as I turned my back to him and murmured, “If you unfasten the zipper, you can see it.”
Silence filled the tattoo parlor as he did so, making the sound of the fastener opening all the louder, and his sharp inhalation clearer as he processed what he was seeing.
When his fingers reached out to trace what was a twin to his, just with bastardized lettering, he whispered, “For me?”
“For me,” I corrected. “For you. For what you and your family did for me.” I peeked at him over my shoulder. “I saw yours and needed it on me because it helped make you the man I love, but I also loved the meaning.”
“An oppressed man freed,” he parroted, and I saw the understanding in his eyes, felt it even more when, with his other hand, his fingers tangled with the cuff that shielded my brand. One that had been burned into my flesh.
I nodded. “Exactly. I thought it fit perfectly.”
“It does.” His gaze dropped to the ink. “You’re beautiful, Alessa.”
Smiling at him, I said, “Thank you.”
“Wonder if she thanks him when he tells her he loves her?” Indy said in an aside to Giulia.
“If the fucker has told her that yet. Maybe we need to beat him up. Show him how he’d best treat our girl.”
At that moment, with Mav’s eyes on me, Indy and Giulia in the background, my heart felt too full.
‘Our girl.’
I belonged.
Knowing that my full heart was in my eyes, I said, “He’s told me. Why do you think we’re getting branded?”
“Spill the deets then,” Giulia chivvied. “I wanna know what you’re getting.”
So I told them.
A few hours later, ink completed, a little sore and a lot buzzy from the adrenaline whispering through my system, we finished the errands we had planned for today and returned to Lily’s.
I half expected him to head into the kitchen so he could work with Lodestar, only he didn’t. With our fingers tangled, our free hands carrying bags from the stuff we’d bought today, together, we walked to the poolhouse.
As I set my purse on the counter beside the door, he placed the bags carefully on the ground as he closed up behind us.
The second it was shut, I shrieked because his hands were on my hips and he was hauling me back into him. His mouth went to my ear and he rasped, “I wanna feel you and your brand up.”
My smile broke loose. “You can’t yet. It’s still under the Saran Wrap.”
“I know,” he growled impatiently. “But I wanna.”
“Tough,” I told him succinctly, laughing when he growled again. Twisting back to look at him, I continued, “I want to bite yours, but I can be patient.”
“Well, I can’t be,” he said with a grunt, and his dick ground into my ass as he slipped his hand over my belly.
We’d yet to use protecti
on, and I knew that was because he assumed I was taking the pill, but I wasn’t.
Wouldn’t.
Dolya, fate, had me in its grip, and I wasn’t about to mess with it. Not when it had brought me here, to this point.
Even as I wondered if I was pregnant, one hand stayed on top of my stomach, while the other began to lift my skirt higher, higher, until he could reach between my legs unimpeded. I wore no leggings today because the dress I wore danced around my calves, so to feel skin against skin was delicious, especially as he quickly flickered his fingers under my panties.
My hips arched in turn, rocking into him because that felt so good when he aimed straight for my clit and rubbed it back and forth, just how he’d learned I liked it. His breath brushed my ear, the weight of his chin settled on my shoulder, and his front seemed to be pressed against the full length of my spine which let me burn up in his heat and allowed me to feel as if I was surrounded by him.
Nothing could have felt better either.
I groaned, my nipples budding against my dress, skin prickling with the fire he stirred in me as he whispered, “I’m going to fill you up with my cum, Alessa. Stuff you full of it. Your pussy is gonna know me from the inside out, and whenever I’m near, you’re gonna start to crave me just like I crave you. Just like I need you.”
His words had me tilting my head so I could slot our mouths together, keep them bound as I thrust my tongue against his, needing to unite with him in this one small way.
As he kissed me, he moved us so I was no longer simply staring at the hall ahead, but so I was facing the wall.
Pulling back, he murmured against my lips, “Hands on the wall, sweetheart.”
Who was I to argue?
Shivering, I complied, pressing my palms where he indicated, the tips of my fingers curling in as he angled me so I was bent forward.
I heard his zipper retracting, felt his groan like I’d made it myself when he freed his dick and palmed it, then whimpered when his cock, so molten hot I was sure I’d expire from it, brushed against my folds.
Maverick: A Dark MC Romance (A Dark & Dirty Sinners' MC Series Book 6) Page 33
