“Fuck,” Fury clips.
“Lighten up,” Max announces.
We spend the rest of the evening talking and laughing with the people we love. It’s calming, and I’m so at peace that nothing in the world could rattle me.
Nothing at all.
MADDOG
Pulling into our driveway has never felt so fucking good. The normal twelve-hour drive turned into a forty-eight-hour road trip.
I didn’t feel right making Mary ride on the back of my bike for twelve hours straight. So, we split the trip into two days and saw a little of the middle of nowhere while we did it.
Now, we’re home, and I for one couldn’t be happier. My body is still sore from the gunshot wounds I suffered, and riding this long on the bike makes it all even worse.
“Our bed. I can’t wait to fall into our bed and sleep for a week,” Mary sighs as we walk into the house.
We no more than take one step inside when my cell phone rings. I look down and am surprised to see that it’s Torch.
“What’s up, brother,” I grumble as I close the door behind us.
Mary scurries upstairs, probably to shower, and I make my way up to follow her, much fucking slower, as I’m a goddamn old man.
“My wife’s gone missing,” he announces.
“You’re what?” I ask in surprise.
“My wife,” he grunts.
“I’m going to need some more information, brother.”
“I’ll be by your house in ten minutes,” he announces.
I shake my head in confusion and tell Mary, who is already rinsing the road off of her, that Torch is coming over.
“I’m just going to go to sleep,” she calls out.
“Yeah, sweetness, you get some rest. I’ll slide in next to you soon,” I say before I walk downstairs.
Torch is already on my front porch by the time I open my door. He rushes past me and starts to pace in my living room. He’s on edge, agitated, and concerned. All three emotions I have never seen from him before in the years I’ve known him.
“Explain this shit,” I say.
He looks up at me, his eyes glassy, and he curses.
“I’ve been married for twelve years,” he explains. My eyes widen in surprise, but I don’t say anything. I wait for him to continue. “I haven’t seen her for eleven years. I found her, and just like that, she’s gone.”
“Did she just run away from you? What are you telling me? What aren’t you telling me?”
“I don’t know. Her clothes are in her closet, her car’s in the driveway, and her fuckin’ purse is on the counter. Nothing is out of place except for the fact that she’s fucking vanished,” he practically yells.
“Let’s do some digging. I know a guy,” I say as I pull out my phone.
“You calling the Russians?” he asks.
“Yeah, Oliver,” I nod.
“Good, fuck, yeah, he’s good,” Torch nods.
“We’ll find her,” I tell him as I wrap my hand around his shoulder and give him a shake.
I explain what I can to Kirill who tells me that he’ll relay the message to his man. I walk outside before I ask him if he’s heard anything new about The Cartel, wondering if this could be related.
He tells me that everything’s been quiet, but he wouldn’t rule them out at this point, not at all. That doesn’t make me feel at ease, not with my own woman upstairs, pregnant with my baby.
“Go home, get some rest. When I hear something, I’ll call you,” I tell him.
Torch nods before he walks away. I don’t know what to say to him. His demons are in the forefront of his mind, that much is true— they’re dancing in his eyes.
I lock down the house before I go upstairs and take a shower.
“Everything okay?” Mary asks as I slide into bed and wrap my arm around her waist, pulling her back closer to my chest.
“I hope it will be, sweetness,” I whisper into the dark before I kiss her temple.
Mary’s out like a light a few seconds later, but I’m not. I lie awake and just stare into the darkness. Wondering, hoping, and praying that this isn’t more bullshit with those filthy fucking bastards.
This shit needs to be done and over. I can’t sit around and wonder, waiting for them to strike, and if they have? God rest their fucking souls, because I’m going to torture every last one of those cocksuckers.
Enough is e-fuckin-nough.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
MARY-ANNE
The mood in the air is weird, almost charged with something like electricity. I stand outside of my little white house and just look toward the street, wondering what on earth is making the day so—weird.
I hear the rumbling of a bike, and I watch as Max pulls into the drive. He was gone when I woke up this morning. Not that it was really morning, since it was well past noon.
I watch as he swings his leg off of his bike and walks toward me. The blood starts to pump through my veins, and I heat just at the sight of him.
I feel like tackling him right now. How did I go three whole weeks without him? I’ll never know. It all seems like a distant memory today. It all seems like a bad, terrible nightmare.
“Get inside,” Max grunts as he makes his way closer to me.
My eyes snap to his, and I read that his mood is charged as well—just as live as the air around me.
There is something definitely wrong. I turn and hurry inside, waiting by the door for him to walk through. I aim to find out exactly what’s happening.
As soon as he walks through the front door, he closes it and locks it into place. I open my mouth to ask him what’s wrong, when his eyes snap up to me.
“Don’t speak,” he orders.
He’s pissed and I don’t know why. I wait. I wait for him to say something, but he’s just standing in front of me, looking at me, looking angry and something else, maybe even worried.
“We’re in a war. A quiet war, but a war. We have been for some time, but it’s yet to touch this club. Usually, when people fuck with the Devils, they pick the smaller clubs, not mine. Not the original charter. This time, however, they’ve fucked with us. It’s going to be bloody, it’s going to be messy, and innocent people will probably lose their lives. You’re a main target. You’re my woman. I’ve claimed you, therefore I’ve made you a bright, shiny target for all to see. I did it, knowing exactly what I was doing. I did it, because I’m a selfish prick. I gave not a single fuck because I wanted you at my side.”
I don’t say anything. I’m not sure what he’s actually telling me. So I wait. He runs his hands through his hair in what appears to be frustration before he speaks again.
“Torch has a wife. Nobody knew, and now she’s gone. Nobody can find her, not even our tech guy can find her,” he announces.
“Who has her, Max?” I ask taking a step toward him.
“We don’t know. I suspect one group, but in reality, I don’t fucking know. The fucker of it all, it could have nothing to do with the club. We just don’t know,” he exhales, closing his eyes.
I take the opportunity to press my body against his and wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him down slightly, so that his face is closer to me. Then I press my lips to his.
“Everything will be okay, Max. We’re safe; you keep us safe,” I whisper against his lips.
I shudder when his hand wraps around my small belly and his forehead rests against mine.
“I didn’t think I’d be this worried about you, the two of you,” he murmurs.
“The three of us are going to be just fine, Max. You cannot worry about the unknown, not like that. You don’t know if this girl just wanted to run away and not be found,” I say with a smile, not truly believing my own words.
If she didn’t want to be found, I’m sure, whoever their tech guy is, could probably find her anyway.
“Just to be safe, you’re not on lockdown at the clubhouse, but you’re on lockdown just the same. You don’t leave this house without me or one of the bro
thers at your side,” he grunts, taking a step back from me.
“Seriously? What about if I go out with the girls?” I ask.
“Then some boys tag along.”
“Yeah, okay, fine. I don’t even have a car. I don’t know why I’m even acting upset,” I shrug with a grin.
“We’re gonna fix that shit too, sweetness,” he announces.
“What’s that?”
“A car. You need one, just in case I can’t take to you an appointment or something. You need your own wheels,” he murmurs.
“I can drive your gigantic monster machine.”
“Uh, no,” he snorts. “You can have something you can handle. A car, an SUV, something like that.”
“What do you mean, something I can handle?” I ask as I cross my arms over my chest.
“Get your shit,” he chuckles. I roll my eyes before I find my purse.
I’m already dressed for the day, in a pair of jeans that, fortunately, have lycra in them so they stretch where I need them to.
I can already tell that they’ll be unbuttoned the second I try to sit down. Luckily, my shirt is loose and drapes around me, so nobody will even be able to see my unbuttoned jeans beneath it.
Max helps me climb inside of his monster machine, and we drive toward town. I’m not paying attention to the roads, just the scenery, wondering how on earth I went from loving the beach and needing that ocean air every day to being the happiest I’ve ever been in the mountains surrounded by trees.
I shake my head once, already knowing the answer to that—Maxfield.
The truck comes to a stop and I look around in confusion. We aren’t at a car dealership. Max doesn’t say anything as he ambles out of the pickup and then comes to my side to help me out. We walk, hand-in-hand, into a jewelry store.
“Max,” I whisper.
“We’re getting married, and we’re doing it before this baby gets here. So today, you’re pickin’ out a ring,” he grumbles, like this is the last place he wants to be.
Though, I can see the spark of excitement in his blue eyes that tells a different tale.
“How may I help you?” the girl asks as her eyes lock in and stay focused on Max’s cut.
She balls her fists together, and I see that her knuckles turn white. I don’t know if she’s scared or angry, but her facial expression doesn’t change one bit. Damn, she’s a good actress.
“Here for a wedding ring. Whatever she wants,” he murmurs, softening his voice, obviously understanding this girl’s reaction as one of fear.
She looks over to me and gives me a shaky smile. She’s around my age, pretty, with dark red hair that falls to just below her shoulders. Her big green eyes are wide with worry, but she tries to stay smiling anyway. I shake my head once.
“What do you have in mind?” she asks.
“Nothing too fancy, just something simple,” I say.
I have no idea what I want, I’ve never even given a single thought to a wedding ring in my entire life.
“Our engagement rings are over here. Let’s start there,” she offers, walking over to a case.
Max and I follow, and I look down at all the rings. They sparkle in that way that only new diamonds can. I know that once they’re out of the case and on someone’s finger, the shine will dull, dirt and grime will get between the grooves, and they’ll be worn and nothing like they are now.
Much like people who enter a relationship; much like me and Max. We’re two people who aren’t shiny and new, two people who have been through something and seen some shit.
“How about something like this?” she asks, pulling out a ring with the smallest diamond I think in the world.
“There’s no budget,” Max announces.
The poor girl jumps slightly before she nervously puts the tiny ring back. I look around and see a gorgeous vintage looking ring.
It’s white gold and has an intertwining design of diamonds around the entire band. There is no big stone, it’s just tiny little diamonds, but a lot of them, and they’re all the way around. That’s it. I tell the girl I want to see it and she pulls it out.
“Put it on,” Max grumbles.
I slide it on my finger and he picks up my hand to look at it. When he lifts his eyes and they connect with mine, they’re smiling, even if his lips aren’t, and he nods once.
“Ring it up,” he says.
“Sir, this ring is forty-five thousand dollars,” she whispers with worry etching her features.
“Ring. It. Up,” he growls, leaning forward.
I watch as she jumps and then takes the ring from me and hurries over to a computer.
“You’re scaring her,” I hiss.
“I don’t mean to. She looks familiar as fuck, though, and I can’t place her,” he murmurs.
“The club?” I ask, arching a brow.
“Fuck, no,” he chuckles, shaking his head. “She looks like she’s about to piss herself with just me here. I can’t imagine her at the clubhouse with all of the brothers there.”
I nod my head in agreement. She’s adorable, gorgeous, and it makes me wonder if maybe, just maybe one of the guys hit on her and scared her once. Hell, I don’t know. Then she looks back at me with wide eyes before she turns around and finishes up.
“This is your total here, including tax,” she murmurs as she slips the piece of paper toward Max. He glances at it for a second before tossing a credit card on top.
“I’m sorry, but you look really familiar. Can you tell me your name? I’m better with names than faces,” I say sweetly. Max grunts next to me.
It’s going to bug the crap out of me if he can’t figure out who she is, mainly because I think it’ll bother him and he’ll talk about it and try to figure it out. Her reaction is so telling that I know she knows him, or at least knows a Devil.
“I don’t think we’ve met before,” she mutters as she runs Max’s card.
“I’m Mary-Anne,” I announce with a smile.
She watches me as she brings the receipt for Max to sign and then she glances at him before turning back to me, chewing on her bottom lip.
“Cleo, my name is Cleo,” she practically whispers.
“Oh, well, yeah I don’t recognize your name. I know I wouldn’t forget that at all. It’s a kick ass name,” I say with a big, hopefully warm, smile.
“All of your paperwork and the ring are in the bag,” she stutters before shakily handing Max the bag.
He takes it from her, all while looking at her with confusion. I thank her and tug him with me outside, waiting until we get out of view of the store before I stop.
“What the hell just happened in there?” I ask.
Max looks down at me, shakes his head once, then speaks.
MADDOG
“That’s who the fuck we been lookin’ for,” I announce before I pull out my phone to call Torch.
“What?” Mary whispers next to me.
I ignore her and scroll through my contacts to find his name before I press send.
“Pres,” he slurs.
He’s been drowning himself in booze since he left my house last night. Hasn’t eaten and hasn’t slept. He’s been sitting in a chair, with his phone in one hand and a drink in the other.
“I found her,” I announce. He stays silent for a beat and then he sighs.
“Dead?” he asks on a whisper.
“At work. Didn’t you check her job?” I ask in irritation.
“What?” he cries. “Of course I checked her job, she’s a receptionist at an attorney’s office in Sacramento.”
“Wrong, she’s working at a jewelry store, here. I just fuckin’ left there. Dark red hair, big green eyes, bangin’ fuckin’ bod, and her name is Cleo.”
I grunt when Mary’s hand slaps across my gut when I say Cleo had a banging bod.
“Don’t let her out of your sight. I’ll be there in five,” he says before I hear a chair fall down in the background.
“You’ll have Camo drive you,” I say, informing h
im that West will be driving a cage. He growls. “West’ll drive you and that’s a fuckin’ order.”
“Fine,” he clips before he ends the call.
I send a text to Camo with the orders, and then I look down at Mary who has her pretty blue eyes narrowed on me.
“She does have a bangin’ bod. I was checking her out, too,” she grinds out. I can’t help but to laugh as I pull her into my chest.
“Love you, sweetness,” I whisper against the top of her head.
“Yeah, I love you, too,” she says, tipping her head back with a smile.
We wait for Camo and Torch to pull up, and when they do, I cringe as Torch stumbles out of the pickup.
“Shit, he’s tanked,” Mary whispers, looking over her shoulder at him.
“Yeah,” I grunt. “You goin’ in?” I call out. Torch lifts his chin.
“Gonna fuckin’ wait by her goddamn car. You guys go ahead,” he mutters as he stumbles toward a piece of shit black Jeep Cherokee in the parking lot.
“You watch, make sure he doesn’t do anything fucking crazy,” I command, pointing at Camo.
“Sure thing,” he nods, turning to Torch and watching him with a look of worry on his face.
“Hey, West,” Mary says with a wave.
“Hey,” he smiles.
“Tell Ivy hi for me,” she calls out as I grab her hand and tug her behind me.
We have places to be, and those places don’t include standing around and watching these fucking idiots under me try and get their shit together. I pull out my phone and make another call.
“Mr. MadDog,” Kirill says in my ear. I roll my eyes. Fuckin’ Ruskie.
“We found her,” I say as I start the engine of the truck.
“Alive?” he asks.
“At work, or where she’s workin’ today. I don’t know the details. Torch is there now, but she looks healthy and she’s definitely alive,” I mutter.
“So maybe she’s just running from him,” he mutters, almost as though he’s in thought.
“Appears to be so. Her face turned about as white as a sheet the second her eyes locked in on my patch.”
Notorious Devils MC Complete Collection: BoxSet Page 107
