Outcasts MC (Complete Series), page 35
“Hey, I like the bagel shop, like I’ve told you before,” Lacey said. But she giggled. “It would be nice to do something a little more interesting sometimes, though. And I don’t know; I’ve just always thought that makeup was so fascinating. You know, you can hide some things so easily or accentuate other things. Make someone look like a totally new person.”
“So you’ll go to beauty school,” I said firmly. “And then what? I mean, from what I’ve already seen, I’m sure you could own your own shop one day, couldn’t you?”
“Yeah, if I wanted to,” Lacey said. “I don’t know; I would be just as happy working for someone else. I just want to do beauty.” She paused. “What about you? What do you want to do with your life, if you didn’t have to work at the bagel shop anymore? I’ve never heard you mention anything about a career or anything.”
I laughed. “To be honest, that’s because I’ve never really thought about a career,” I told her. That was only partly true. I had thought about a career as a professional hacker, but after seeing everything that had happened with Victor, I wasn’t sure that that was the route that I wanted to go down. Too much uncertainty.
And it wasn’t just uncertainty when it came to the authorities, either. I always had to worry about when I was going to get my next job and how much it was going to pay me. Well, not worry, not so much anymore. I had enough in the bank to tide me over to the next project. But at the same time, there was always that uncertainty. It wasn’t a regular job, and at any point, the tax authorities could come after me for that money, wondering where I had gotten it all from. Then, the gig would be up.
That wasn’t any sort of long-term career. I just couldn’t think of anything else I might like to do with my life. Except…
“To be honest, I’ve always wanted to be a mother.” The words were out of me before I had thought them through. I gave Lacey a weak smile. “I know that’s probably so weird to hear from me.”
“Why would that be weird?” Lacey asked in surprise. I raised an eyebrow at her, and she laughed. “I mean, okay, the tattoos and everything, but I know you. I know you don’t hate the world or whatever those stereotyping assholes might say.”
I giggled. “No, I don’t hate the world,” I agreed. “But anyway, me being a mother is a long way off. Have to find someone I want to have a kid with first.”
“And save up some money,” Lacey said, shaking her head sympathetically. “Have you ever read the numbers on how much it can cost to have children? And I’m not even talking about putting them through college or all of the later things that you have to do for them. Just, like, the doctors’ appointments and giving birth is a ton of money.”
I grinned at her. “I still think finding the man is the bigger challenge,” I said. “You’ve got it easy, wanting to go to beauty school. Another five thousand dollars? That’s definitely doable.”
Lacey sighed. “I just wish it were a little easier,” she said. “It feels like I’ve already been saving forever, and as soon as I had all this money over to the school, I’m starting out all over again. I mean, sure, I’ll have some skills when I’m done, but having an empty bank account is going to hurt.”
“Maybe it doesn’t have to be that difficult,” I said slowly. There was no better time to bring this up, I figured. “I could help.”
“Oh, Brittany, I couldn’t ask you to do that,” Lacey said, immediately shaking her head. “You should be saving up for your dreams, not for mine. Or at least, you shouldn’t be starving yourself trying to get by and save money just so that I can go to beauty school.”
I laughed. “Don’t worry about it,” I said. “Look, I have a little bit of money left from an inheritance. It’s just been sitting in the bank, not helping anyone. You could take that money now, get yourself through beauty school, and we could figure out a way for you to pay me back. I don’t need the money just sitting there.”
Lacey sucked in her lower lip, gnawing on it for a moment. I could tell how concerned she was about the very idea of it. “But what if I fail?” she asked. “What if I could never pay you back?”
“Then you’d come back and keep working at the bagel store and pay me back that way,” I said firmly. “I know you can do it.” Lacey still looked uncertain. I caught both of her hands, pausing her makeover attempts for the moment. “Lacey, you’re my best friend. We’ve known each other for years now, and I love you like you’re my sister. But you could have such a better life for yourself. Even if you were making the same amount of money, like you said, you would be doing something that you actually liked doing. I think that that’s worth it.”
“But what makes you think—” Lacey began.
I shook her hands and then turned around to grab a mirror. When I looked into it, even though I knew she was still working on my face, the transformation was incredible. My eyes looked big and bright, my cheeks faintly coated with blush and contoured exceptionally. I felt beautiful looking at myself like that. I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face.
“This,” I said firmly, gesturing at my face. “This makes me certain that you’re going to pay me back all the money I loan you. With interest, if that’s the way you want to be.”
Lacey’s answering smile was just as bright. “All right,” she finally agreed. “I’ll take the money. But I promise you, you won’t regret this.”
“You goofball,” I said, giving her a sideways hug. “I already know that.”
11
Victor
I had to admit; I was a little nervous to go to Brittany’s house on Friday. She still lived in the same house she had grown up in, but by herself now that her dad was gone. The place definitely brought back memories. I hadn’t been there since I’d been caught for my stupid hacking stunt. In fact, I had been at her house when I had been arrested. It had been her computer I was using, after all.
I knew it wouldn’t be the same computer today. That computer had been confiscated, made part of the criminal investigation into just how deep into the system I had gone and what I might have done with the knowledge I’d acquired from that foray.
And honestly, Brittany probably would have been pissed enough at what I had done that even if they had left her the computer, she probably would have destroyed it in a fit of rage.
No, I knew she had to have a new computer by now, something she had built herself, no doubt, but something more advanced than the “rudimentary” system she’d had before. Not that it had been all that rudimentary.
Still, things seemed all too similar to the way they had once been, and that made me nervous. I knocked on the door and waited breathlessly for Brittany to answer. Once upon a time, I would have just walked straight in. Maybe there were some things that were different now.
Brittany laughed when she saw me. “You didn’t have to knock,” she said, stepping back to let me in. I couldn’t stop staring at her for a moment. Or rather, at her legs. She was wearing just a tank top and skimpy panties, and it seemed like her tattoos went on forever leading down toward the floor. She had a surprisingly athletic build to her—that was another thing that I noticed. Another thing that had changed. She was no longer the reedy girl I had grown up with.
I swallowed hard, dragging my gaze back up toward her eyes.
“Sorry,” she said innocently. “I just rolled out of bed. Let me go grab some pants.”
I very nearly grabbed her, as I watched her bound half-naked up the stairs. Christ, that girl certainly knew how to make an impression. I readjusted my jeans, counting to ten in my head and slowly breathing out in an attempt to calm myself down.
When Brittany came back downstairs, I was looking at a couple of new photos that were hanging on the wall. There was one in particular of Brittany and her father together. Brittany was laughing, her head turned toward her father, while her dad winked at whoever was holding the camera. It was such a great candid shot of the two of them, in crisp black and white. It made me miss her father. Brittany and her mom had never gotten along very well, and when her mom had eventually taken off, there had been a couple of dark years where she and her father had fought all the time too.
But Brittany’s dad had always been good to me. Prior to meeting Otis, I would have said that he was the most like a father figure to me out of anyone I’d known. My own father had done a piss-poor job of things.
Brittany paused at the foot of the stairs, her eyes going toward the photo I was looking at. “I’m still sorry I couldn’t be there for the funeral,” I said quietly. It was something I had never had a chance to tell her before. She hadn’t been interested in listening.
Brittany came to stand next to me, bumping her shoulder against mine. “Hey, you don’t have to be sorry about that,” she said, her voice low to match mine. “It would have been good to have you there, but I know it wasn’t your choice.” She paused. “Would’ve been a hell of a commute if you had to break yourself out of jail and avoid the cops on the way to the funeral.”
I laughed, glad that she could joke about it now. I knew that joking was probably the last thing she would have wanted to do at the time. Maybe it was a good we’d had a little time and space since the last time we’d seen each other. Time to really grow into ourselves.
“I missed you,” I said suddenly, turning to look at her.
Brittany turned to look at me as well, her head cocking to the side. “I know,” she said simply. But she didn’t tell me that she had missed me as well, and I had to wonder. I knew her life was a lot simpler without me in it. Maybe she would be happy just to have me gone again.
She led me down the hall to what had once been her father’s study. Here, I could see that things had changed a little since the last time I’d been there. It was mostly the same, but here and there were little additional touches, where Brittany had clearly added a little of herself. Her computer was set up on the desk, and I could tell from the worn leather on the chair that she must have spent a lot of time in here.
And why not? The place was cozy, and it brought back a lot of memories of the old days, even for me.
But Brittany stopped me before I could sit down behind the desk. “I’m still not sure I’m comfortable with the idea of you using my computer for this,” she said. “You said this is a politician? Like, how high up are we talking here? And which side of the fence? They aren’t going to think I’m trying to screw with an election or something, are they?”
“Hopefully, they aren’t even going to realize I’ve been in these records,” I said firmly.
“Yeah, but if something goes wrong?” Brittany asked. “I assume if you’re here and you need to use my computer, this is something you’re not able to crack just on your own, and that makes me worried.”
“He’s a congressman,” I admitted. “But I can’t tell you who it is or any of that information. You know it’s probably safer for you not to know.”
Brittany shook her head. “I can’t let you use it until you tell me who it is,” she said stubbornly, shaking her head.
“You’re just curious,” I scoffed. “You don’t need to know who it is.”
“Vic,” Brittany said, narrowing her eyes at me.
I frowned, staring at her. I could kind of see what she was saying, about wanting to know if politics were going to be a problem in the situation. About wanting to know if it was going to look like she was trying to swing an election. And I also knew that my insistence that they shouldn’t know that I was in there didn’t hold much weight. I had already gotten both of us in trouble once. I couldn’t blame her for not trusting me not to do it again.
But at the same time, I wasn’t sure if this was something I could tell her. This was one of our clients we were talking about, and even though I trusted Brittany with my life, there was a certain line I had to draw between her and club business. Both for her safety and for my own.
At the very least, I needed to talk to Otis about this first and make sure he was okay with me giving her the name of our potential client. I had a feeling that he would be, especially if I told him that she was helping me crack the case. But at the same time, I didn’t want to risk anything.
“You don’t want to tell me,” Brittany said incredulously. “You don’t trust me? Because if that’s the case, you can keep your hands off my computer. If anyone shouldn’t be trusting the other person here, it’s me not trusting you.”
“I know,” I said, holding up both hands in a placating gesture. “There’s just certain information that’s private club information, things that I’m not allowed to tell anyone. Not even you, maybe. I just need to check with Otis first, to make sure it’s okay.” I rubbed the back of my neck, grimacing. “I guess I’m going to have to come back some other time.”
Really, I should have had some sort of conversation with Otis about this in advance, before I had even come over there. I had mentioned Brittany to him in the past, when I was fresh out of juvie, but her name hadn’t come up in a while. I wondered what he would think if I told him I needed to use her computer to work on this.
I knew that he would be happy with any solution that I had. But one more person who knew what was going on, what we had been asked to do, was one more person we needed to look out for in case things went wrong. And not just because we were worried that the representative might come after us if he found out we were snooping into his private life. But also because whoever was after the representative might come after us as well.
I couldn’t put Brittany in a situation where she could get hurt, any more than I could lead the police right back to her door.
I could tell that Brittany still thought I didn’t trust her, and I couldn’t stop myself from taking a step forward and brushing my fingers along her shoulder. “Come on, you know I trust you,” I told her. “I wouldn’t have told you about the MC if I didn’t trust you. I just want to make sure that if our congressman needs protection from someone within the government, I’m not putting you in danger by telling you about all of this.”
“That’s fair,” Brittany finally allowed. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I still don’t like the idea of any of this, but I know it’s what you need to do to make sure that your brothers-in-arms are safe. So I guess you can come back. But for now, since you’re already here, did you want some lunch?”
“That’d be great,” I said, smiling slowly. I trailed after her into the kitchen, again feeling so amazed to just be back in her house. The kitchen looked exactly the same as it always had, right down to the faded yellow wallpaper. I watched as Brittany went to the fridge and started pulling things out. She laid it all out on the counter, but that was as far as she got.
I took a step closer to her, running my hands up her back, unable to keep away from her. I was still thinking back to her answering the door in her panties. She had thrown on a pair of ripped jeans, but there was no less sex appeal there.
“I missed you,” I said quietly, pressing my lips against the sensitive skin just below her earlobe. I nibbled lightly at the spot, hearing her breath hitch. She turned her head to the side to give me better access, and I knew that she was just as interested as I was.
Sleeping with her might not be the best idea, but it was like there was nothing that either of us could do. She turned around, her lips eagerly questing mine, and I cupped her cheeks, pressing her back against the countertop.
12
Brittany
The more I thought about it, the surer I was that sleeping with Victor was a horrible idea, as much as I might want to. But when I’d seen the way he was staring at my legs when I opened the door, all those reasons seemed to fly out the window. So what if he was trouble? So what if it was hard enough to forget about his friendship, let alone something more? So what if we were pretty much working together at the moment, as long as he needed the use of my computer?
I didn’t care about any of it. I was so tangled up in the thought of Victor finding me attractive.
Not that I didn’t think I was attractive. I knew I had a certain appeal to a certain type of guy. I just didn’t realize that Victor was that kind of guy, partly because the fooling around we’d done in the past had seemed more out of curiosity than anything more. And partly because he was pretty damn sexy himself.
As he pressed me back against the kitchen countertop, his mouth claiming mine, his tongue battling for dominance, I realized yet again that Victor wasn’t the kid I had once known. He had firm muscles underneath my fingertips, and he was confident and sure of himself.
And I was so turned on that I was tearing off his clothes right there in the middle of the kitchen, when we were just meant to be having lunch together.
I moaned, my head thumping back against the cupboards as Victor moved his lips lower, nipping at my jawline and trailing wet kisses down to the collar of my tank top. I knew I never should have answered the door without pants on, but it had been convenient, and it wasn’t like it was anything Victor hadn’t seen before. I had never expected it to boil over into this so quickly.
I wasn’t complaining, even if I knew, in some part, that this was a terrible idea. It didn’t seem so very terrible at the moment.
It wasn’t long before we were both naked and rubbing against each other. I was wetter than I could ever remember being, and I knew that if he didn’t get inside of me soon, I was going to have to resort to begging. It wasn’t just that it had been a while. It was Victor, his spicy scent, his sure fingers, that heated gaze in those dark eyes of his. I couldn’t get enough of it.
His fingers slid down between my legs, pressing against my clit for one heated moment before sliding farther back through my slick, pressing into my hole. I rocked breathlessly down onto his digits, needing more even as my body clenched around him, unaccustomed to the stretch. He fucked me with his fingers for a moment, his gaze never leaving my face, even as my own eyes slid shut in pleasure, my head falling back against the cupboards again.
