Ultimate MC (Romance Collection), page 139
She smiled warmly at me, and I grinned, looking down into my mug of tea. I wasn’t sure what to say. I didn’t get that kind of compliment often, and it meant a lot coming from someone so important to Abby.
“My mother has been telling me to settle down with someone for a long time. Now, she’s going to have a family,” she told me. And she was right. As soon as we walked through the door, her mother gave me a hug and a kiss on both cheeks, then made tea for us all.
Abby had already told us that her mother loved to serve tea for the guests, and though it wasn’t my favorite drink in the world, I was happy to have it with the old woman for the sake of making her and her daughter happy. She was the only family Abby had, and I wanted her to like me.
After all, she was going to be the grandmother of our child, and we wanted her to be on good terms with all of us when the baby was born.
The rest of the MC welcomed Abby with open arms. Of course, I knew they would. They had with the rest of the girls who had come into the group, and Abby was no different. In fact, with her being friends with Sloan already, she was welcomed even faster than most.
Hopper and Tesla loved her from the beginning, and I knew she would be a very active part of the MC once she got the hang of things. I looked forward to the day when we would all be one big happy family–kids and all.
There was only one problem left.
Gus was still out there.
Raf was searching for him every chance he got, but with little luck. The guy knew how to hide, and he was doing a very great job at it. Hopper was convinced that he had someone else working for him and was possibly making his own MC.
Of course, without proof there was no way to know for sure, but we were all given very specific instructions to keep an eye out for those we didn’t recognize, or for the names of any new MCs in the area. I tried not to worry about it too much, but with Natalie under such steep protection, I could only imagine it would be Callie, Sloan and Abby who would be his targets.
But Hopper tried to keep the spirits up with his barbecues, telling us that there wasn’t anything we could do about it until something happened, and with the cops on high alert, Gus was going to have to be really careful if he didn’t want to end up back behind bars.
I didn’t care what happened to the guy. If he went to jail, that would be great, if he went to prison, that would be even better. If he got caught up with a gang or a mob, that would be best. As long as he left the MC and my family alone, I was a happy man.
And I would do anything I could to make sure that happened. Even as I stood with my friends and family around me, I stopped to make sure there wasn’t anyone watching. I wanted no more surprises like what had happened at the bar or at the door at the strip club.
These people were the people I loved, and I would protect them with my life if I had to.
“You okay?” Abby asked as she walked up behind me. We were at another barbecue, and she had a plate of food in her hand, “You haven’t eaten yet.”
“I was looking to make sure there weren’t any unwanted guests,” I said with a grin. “You shouldn’t have.”
“I need to make sure my man eats,” she said with a laugh.
“I need to make sure my child and their mother eats,” I said with a grin. “Come on, let’s get you something to eat.”
She wrapped her arms around me, and the two of us headed back to the barbecue. Our friends were gathered around, drinking and talking and laughing the night away. Callie and Abby, of course, were drinking soda and not alcohol for obvious reasons.
But they were having just as much fun as the rest of us, and I didn’t think it would be possible for me to be any happier than I was just then. I had always been the moody one in the group, but now I felt I was the happiest man there. Even Raf didn’t seem to be able to match my happiness.
There was a time when they would have all wondered what had gotten me so chipper, but now it was obvious. I had the love of my life by my side, and we were all together. We had been through a lot, all of us, but here we were, and with one more besides us.
Well, three more besides us if we were to count the little ones on the way. Life couldn’t have gotten any better if it tried, I was sure of it. As I sat down next to Abby on the bench near the picnic table, I reached over and put my hand on her lap.
“I love you,” I said. She blushed and almost looked away, but she couldn’t. She loved hearing the words, and she looked right in my eyes as she smiled.
“I love you, too,” she said.
“Forever and always?” I asked.
“Forever and always,” she said with a grin.
“Enough with this mushy shit,” Bain said. He was the last of the singles in our core group, and he liked to point out when we were getting too romantic with each other, “I’m trying to eat.”
We all laughed and picked up our burgers. Hopper sure knew what he was doing when he put on these barbecues, and I was glad that he did. It brought us all together as the families that we had never had. And we all knew it. We came from all stages of life, and we all dealt with our problems differently.
But there was one thing for sure. If something happened, we were all right there with each other, ready to fight for each other and take care of each other, no matter what happened.
Because that’s what family was about, and this–this was family.
Nothing in the world could change that.
Bain
By Vanessa Peters
Chapter 1
Bain
It’s like nine in the morning! What the fuck makes you think I’m even out of bed yet?
Annoyed, I shot a text message back to Kain and rolled over on my pillow, throwing my arm beneath it and lying down further into the softness of the cushion. I was far from a morning person, that was for sure, and everyone in the MC knew this.
If I was needed, it had better be after the hour of noon or I would be in a piss poor mood and do as little as possible to participate. Unless there was an emergency, that is. But it didn’t sound like this was any emergency. This sounded like one of his stupid meetings he liked to call at the ass crack of dawn and expect us all to show up with smiles.
Then again, he didn’t work at the bar much anymore. He had been a bouncer for a while, but with the other jobs demanding more of his time, he spent less and less time staying until two in the morning, and more time leaving at a reasonable hour.
Of course, I could blame that on his stripper girlfriend. He wanted to be home with her more than anything, and who could blame him. Sloan was hot as hell and she knew it. And I could only imagine what it would be like to go home to a woman who knew how to give a real strip tease every night.
But Kain was being relentless. And since he was the VP of our MC, I couldn’t exactly ignore him just because I was tired and somewhat hungover. The Golden Eagles was life to most of us, myself included.
I never had much of a home life to speak of growing up, and they had become a family to me. They were the brothers I never had. And Hopper, our President, well, he was like a father to most of us.
There might not be much of an age difference, but he was still the mentor we needed. He was the leader we were proud to follow, and the one we would happily obey when he gave orders.
So when I got yet another text message from Kain, I knew I had little choice but to drag myself out of bed, and go see what it was he wanted.
Hopper says to get your ass in here yourself before he sends me to come drag your ass.
I sighed. I knew Kain would do it, too. He wasn’t afraid to push us around. And whether it was in good fun or not, I didn’t want him to be pushing me around. With a sigh, I rolled onto my back and lifted my phone above my head and typed the answer.
I’m going to shower and get some coffee in me, then I’ll be down. This better be good if you’re getting me up at this hour.
I hit send and set my phone back on the nightstand. I didn’t expect to hear back from him, so I dragged myself out of my warm sheets and headed for the shower. It was almost fall, and the mornings were a lot colder than they had been.
Denver was known for its cold winters with hot summers, but I wasn’t ever ready for the winter when it came. I knew a lot of the other guys liked it when the weather started to turn. They started talking about how nice it would be to hang out and drink the spiked cider in the clubhouse, while shooting shit over what was going on around town.
All I could think about was the fact I would have to put my bike back in storage, and deal with my shitty car for the next few months.
I got through the shower quickly and headed out to the car, stopping by a coffee shop to grab a mug before heading down to the clubhouse. I wasn’t ever hungry in the morning, though I had heard from over one person that it was better to eat something when you were feeling hungover than to just let it go.
I wasn’t so sure. I didn’t want to get to the clubhouse and have to head right to the bathroom, especially if the President himself was going to be there. It was rare for Hopper to want to meet any of us this early. He was more of the leader who could call for the entire core of the club to come together for a meeting, rather than just choose one or two of us.
And it didn’t help that Kain was the other person who would be present. Kain was the VP. So I was meeting with the first and second-in-command at the same time. Alone.
I wondered what I did.
I headed into the clubhouse feeling a lot more human than I had an hour before and found Kain and Hopper sitting at the table. They both had coffee in front of them and were chatting, but they looked up when they saw me.
“Glad you finally rolled in,” Hopper said.
“Sorry, it was a late night at the bar,” I told him.
“You still bouncing over there?” he asked.
“Randy gave me a raise. With the other guys dropping off like flies he thought that he should give me some incentive to stay,” I gave Kain a look as I spoke, and he shook his head.
“I’m still there a couple nights a week,” he said with a shrug. “You try working three jobs and keeping a girl happy while staying sane.”
“That’s why I never get too involved with a girl,” I said with a smirk. “Hit it and split it, that’s the way I like to do things.”
“And you wonder why you are the only one of us who still doesn’t have someone hanging off your arm when we hit up the barbecues,” Kain said with a smirk.
I clenched my fists and unclenched them. It was hard talking to Kain without wanting to punch him right in the face sometimes. I loved the guy with everything I had in me, but there were also times when he really knew how to push my buttons.
“Alright, alright you two,” Hopper interjected before I had the chance to argue. “We all live our lives as we see best, and as I recall, there was a time when none of you thought you would ever settle down with anyone.”
We both relaxed slightly. I knew he was right. There had been a time when we were the five bachelors. I was the last one left, and I had no intentions of changing that. If Kain had fallen for a stripper and Raf a bartender, then who was left for me to fall for?
“So what did you two drag me down here for?” I repeated.
“We need to talk,” Hopper said.
I wanted to point out that that was obvious, but I merely sat down with my cup of coffee in my hand. The two other men looked at each other for a moment before Hopper gave Kain a slight nod in my direction.
“I will be stepping down as the VP,” he announced. I could have fallen off my seat. There were a lot of things that I thought could come out of his mouth, but that certainly wasn’t one of them.
“What?” was all that managed to come out of my mouth. Hopper took over before he had the chance to say anything else.
“Kain and Raf have both gotten promotions at the lumberyard, and they will be taking on a lot more responsibility there. The boss will be stepping into a much lesser role, leaving them to handle most of the grunt work, and I don’t blame him,” he said as he stretched, showing off his own aged arms.
I took a drink of my coffee, guessing what this had to do with me, but trying not to think about where this was all headed. I didn’t want to lose Kain, and I had a feeling we were about to. Raf, too, from the sound of things. If the two of them would be at the lumberyard more, and if they were both going to continue with their work at the bar, then when were they going to have time to stick with the club?
“You’re leaving?” I managed at last. I hoped there wasn’t an ounce of emotion in my voice, though I had a feeling there was.
“Not the MC,” Kain assured me. “But I will not have the same amount of time that I had to manage the VP duties that I once did, and that’s where you come in.”
“What are you saying?” I asked.
“We’re asking you to step up,” Hopper said. “I talked to Kain about it extensively, and he feels that you are the best candidate out of everyone. You know what you’re doing in leadership positions, you’re good with finances, and you would be best suited for the job.”
I wasn’t so sure. For starters, I wasn’t that good with finances. I hired someone else to take care of most of mine. But it was also tempting to step into the role. I had wanted to work my way up in the club for as long as I could remember and here was my chance.
But it also scared the shit out of me. How the hell was I going to be the one who was second-in-command to Hopper? That meant that when he wasn’t around, it would all fall to me to take care of the shit that went on in town.
And the Golden Eagles were known for their ability to handle things before law enforcement had to get involved. We had established ourselves as an MC who was worth our weight in gold, and we did our best to make sure the streets stayed free of not only drugs, but gun running and anything else we didn’t want on the streets of Derby.
Our reach stretched all the way to Denver as well. It might be a lot bigger than where we lived, but it was manageable for what we did.
“And you think that I’ll be the right man for the job?” I asked again in disbelief. “Not Ryne or Raf?”
“Like we said, Raf will be at the lumberyard a lot more himself, and you know Ryne practically lives at the restaurant. No, if there is one person here who can handle this, it’s got to be you. Will you do this for us?” Hopper asked.
I sat back in my chair, taking another long drink of my coffee and wishing that I’d poured in some whiskey before I came. This was exactly what I wanted, but I never thought I would ever get the chance to actually have it.
There was a pause for a moment as I thought, then I took a deep breath, “If I’m going to take on this position, I’m going to need an assistant.”
“What do you mean?” Hopper asked.
“I mean, I’m not as good with numbers as you think. I have a girl I hired to take care of all that for me, and she does a great job. You don’t have to put her on the payroll if you don’t want to. I pay her more than enough as it is,” I said.
“Of course,” Hopper said with a grin. “And I’m not worried about who’s on the payroll. Kain can discuss with you just what you will be making, and I’m sure you’re going to be quite happy with the sum. Bring her on if you think she’s going to help.”
“She will,” I said. I shook Hopper’s hand, then Kain’s as well, but my head was still spinning. Never in a million years did I think they would make me the VP of the club, and I still wasn’t sure that I could handle all the responsibilities, but I was sure as hell going to try.
The only drawback I could think of was the fact that I would be spending a lot more time with Quinn–my accountant. The girl was great at what she did. Everything she did, really. She could work numbers and figures better than anyone else I’d ever seen, and now she would work with me here, too.
It seemed too good to be true, but I was still worried. What would it do to the two of us to be together so much?
Could I handle it?
Chapter 2
Quinn
I took the turn my GPS directed me to take, but I was still worried I was on the wrong road. I didn’t know a lot about my client’s personal life, but I was very impressed with his account. He was one of my biggest clients, and I got a lot of money from taking care of his books.
Bain Roper built furniture for a living. Well, most of the time, anyway. He was also a part-time bouncer at a bar up in Denver, but I didn’t have much to do with that. I would take the paperwork at the end of the year and make sure his taxes were settled, and that would be the end of that.
I met with him twice a month, making sure things were running smoothly, and making sure he was staying within the law. I knew it wasn’t a fair assumption that he wouldn’t be, but he was a biker, and I had to admit, I didn’t trust bikers.
I had a hard time trusting men in general after all the shit that I’d gone through in my life. But I had to have a job. A girl had to pay the bills, and that meant I would have to work with people I didn’t always agree with.
Bain was one of those people.
We were scheduled to meet again at the end of the month, but he called me this afternoon before and asked if I could meet with him today–at his house of all places. I was apprehensive. I rarely made house calls, if ever, and that was only to those I trusted most.
Bain didn’t fall on the list of people I trusted most. Or at all, for that matter. He fell on the list of people I really didn’t want to spend much time with outside of the office. Or even much time with in the office, either. I would go through his books with him, and I was always relieved when he left.
Not because he made me feel unsafe. Well, not in a way that made me fear for my life or my physical wellbeing.
No, there was something else about him that just took me over when we were together. He was a hunter, and I was his prey. And he knew it. He was fierce. He was a bad boy. He was hot as hell with his strong, lean body and piercing black eyes.
