I realized how stupid I’d been then. Just because the bikers were close to our territory, didn’t mean another set of riders hadn’t invaded our space.
Even as I tensed up, unsure if this was some kind of declaration of war—because that wasn’t the first time shit started this way—Nyx shook the other guy’s hand.
“Razer,” he boomed, but he was smirking. Which, for Nyx, was the equivalent of a welcoming smile. Except… something was different here. He was tense. Now, that was par for the course with him, especially after I’d just pissed him off, but he was definitely on edge. Which made me wish I hadn’t followed him like I was a sheep and he was little Bo Peep.
“Nyx, my man. Just wanted to check out the shop.”
Razer slapped Nyx on the arm, and it wasn’t the kind that was a pissing contest. It was more of a greeting—if that was a thing, especially when it was strong enough to almost make Nyx stagger to the side.
I’d been on the other side of those muscles, so I knew it took some punch to get him to shift at all.
“Pretty, ain’t it?” Nyx mocked, peering up at the storefront that was anything but pretty.
It was navy blue with a simple white sign that had, in blue letters, a detailed list of the services the place offered.
That was it.
Behind the large garage doors, I assumed there was the necessary gear to fix stuff, but if Nyx was here to open up, he didn’t pull out a set of keys.
Something Razer picked up on. “You aren’t opening up?”
Nyx shook his head. “I’m in charge of the bar.”
Razer snorted. “Rex always was a smart bastard. Get the teetotaler behind the bar top, and you’ll have dollars coming out of your ears.”
One of the club sluts popped bubble gum, and I realized then how close she was to me. I didn’t jerk in surprise, my focus on Nyx’s conversation because I’d seen him drink, so why was Razer calling him a teetotaler?
Then the bitch murmured, “Who the fuck are you, fatty?”
I wasn’t fat. I was curvy. Bitch. But I wasn’t about to say that when she made a toothpick look plus-sized.
With one of our sluts, I’d have shoved my fist in her nose, but I wasn’t about to start shit with another club.
Instead, I ignored the whore by gritting my teeth.
Nyx cut me a look, and when he looked relieved at my—what I assumed was—stoic expression, he released a little sigh and stated, “I’m sure Link will be along soon. This place is his responsibility.”
“The fucker’s running late if he is,” Razer grated out, but he didn’t sound that pissed off.
If anything, he sounded cordial.
Which I trusted less than if he’d growled.
Nyx raised his hands. “You know how Link is. He’s probably getting a BJ.”
Razer’s eyes flashed with genuine amusement. “This is true. Well, drop the bastard a line and tell him to get his quickly. Some of us have shit to do.”
The heavy rattle of a bike pierced through the regular rumble of traffic, almost punctuating Razer’s statement.
Nyx twisted to look over his shoulder. The move was weird, but I quickly understood why—he didn’t want to show Razer his back.
Was it weird that I understood that?
Maybe.
I mean, I hadn’t been raised in the club. Not really. Not like my brothers, who’d been dragged away from the Sinners’ reckless lifestyle when they were beyond saving. It was why they’d whined all the time at being far from the clubhouse. They’d been destined to be bikers, or so they claimed. It was in their DNA.
Me?
I just hoped my DNA wasn’t covering too much of the borrowed bed I was sleeping in at the compound.
My mom had made them promise they wouldn’t become bikers, though, and when she’d died, I’d known almost immediately that the promise would be broken without her there to keep them in check.
It was why I’d traveled with them, because if I hadn’t, I’d never have seen them again.
Yeah, they weren’t the best brothers. They’d barely talked to me since we’d arrived here. More than anyone else, but asking me, “Where’s the toilet roll?” and, “Make me a sandwich, Sis?” wasn’t what I considered decent conversation.
So, that being said, having been raised to be a prissy girl, I really shouldn’t understand why Nyx was on edge, but I did.
He had no choice but to be friendly with this unknown MC, but he wasn’t happy about it. So why were these bikers here if it was without an invitation?
When a bike pulled up behind us, the crowd’s attention veered toward the rider, and I took the chance of looking at the cuts the bikers around us were wearing and saw their sigil was a wolf with its teeth bared.
Rabid Wolves MC.
Not very original, was it?
Then again, neither was Satan’s Sinners.
But at least my MC didn’t sound like it belonged in the humane society shelter.
“Razer, sorry, man. Ran into traffic.”
Nyx snorted, then smirked when Link flipped him the bird as he elbowed his way into the crowd. Totally uncaring about who got whacked in the side as he did so.
The second he shook hands with Razer, then did that stupid hug thing that guys did, the one that included the shoulder clap while drawing them in for a half hug, Nyx slapped another biker on the side.
“Another time, Kit, and we’ll get together for drinks.”
“When the bar’s ready,” Razer declared, swerving out of his conversation with Link to focus on Nyx.
“Sounds good. I guess we’d best get some beer on tap then, huh?”
To some laughs that sounded fake to me, he retreated, and grabbed my arm as he headed out of the circle.
The sensation of being hauled didn’t please me, but I let him drag me until we were about ten feet away, then I shook off his hold.
“Thank fuck you held your tongue,” he muttered, as he pulled out his cellphone.
“I’m not an idiot,” I spat, pissed that he thought so little of my brainpower. It didn’t take a fucking genius to recognize that there were some people it was okay to insult, and another club’s bitches weren’t on that list.
As he shot off a text, he cut me a look and muttered, “She deserved for you to do what you did to Kendra.”
My lips twitched. “Like that, did you?”
“Well, ‘like’ is a little strong,” he said dryly, “but I’m sure she deserved the chipped front tooth.”
I laughed, unable to stop it from bursting free. “Wasn’t my fault she moved when I aimed her face at the counter.”
“I really shouldn’t like how aggressive you are,” he grumbled as he shoved his cellphone into his back pocket.
“No? Apparently, you like me just as I am,” I reminded him, because if he didn’t agree with Toothpick back there, it figured he liked my curves.
His eyes were enough to roast me from the inside out as he let his gaze drift over me when he said, “I do.”
He grabbed my hand and folded his fingers over mine, glaring at me as he did before he tugged me into moving.
I didn’t question the gesture, but I did ask, “Since when do MCs work together?” I cleared my throat. “Okay, that’s a loaded question. Since when do two clubs who aren’t chapters work together?”
He shrugged. “Club business.” And so it begins.
I huffed out a disgusted breath. “Well, you didn’t seem too happy to see them there.”
“They weren’t supposed to be on their way until we had shit up and running. It’s rude they came early.”
Rude.
I almost snorted. “Just as rude as Link being late?”
“Maybe.” He cut me a look. “You know how this shit works, Giulia. I can’t talk about this crap with you.”
I shrugged, but inside, I’d admit to being stung. Stung enough to want to punch him in the gut, but I merely raised my chin and stormed toward the bar—I didn’t even bother tugging my hand from his. Why give him
that satisfaction?
The prick.
Seven
Link
“WHAT’S GOING ON?”
“With who?”
I rolled my eyes at Nyx’s evident bluff. “Try that on with someone who doesn’t fucking know you, man.
"Something has bitten you both on the ass. What is it?”
It was as clear as the nose on my fucking face that something was going down between Nyx and Giulia. If he thought they were hiding shit, then they were idiots, but even though Nyx was one of the smartest fuckers I knew, even he couldn’t see the trees for the wood sometimes.
Dipshit.
Giulia had been gnarly from the start. In fact, she made a fucking cactus look fluffy, but Jesus wept, that was nothing to now. The looks she was aiming Nyx’s way should have been enough to have him pissing blood. And Nyx? His glower made it clear that he wasn’t a happy frickin’ bunny.
“Nothing’s going on, man. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
His bluster had me snorting. “How long have I known you again?”
He flipped me the bird. “Nothing’s wrong.” He completely twisted that around by muttering, “Sin, get me a shot of tequila?”
Sin’s brows rose, but he did as bid, throwing the bottle from one hand to the other before pouring Nyx a shot, which he instantly downed.
After he’d finished pulling a face, I muttered, “Still want to tell me nothing’s wrong?”
His nostrils flared and, ignoring me, he twisted around to face the room once more. The second Cammie shimmied over to us, I saw Giulia pinpoint the action like a heat-seeking missile. Fuck, she’d be a beautiful woman if she didn’t always look like she was sucking on goddamn lemons. But now? She looked like she had a lemon and lime medley going down in her mouth as Cammie pressed her hands to Nyx’s chest and began giving him his own personal lap dance.
Stupid bitch.
Nyx didn’t like public displays of anything. Sometimes, he’d get his cock sucked in public, but that was mostly because he didn’t want to take Cammie to his bed.
See? That was how well I knew my brother, and here he was trying to sell me shit.
I rolled my eyes as I watched Cammie put on a show. I wasn’t sure if it was for Nyx’s or Giulia’s benefit, but it wasn’t working. Nyx looked like he’d taken a leaf out of Giulia’s book and was sucking on a lime. He certainly wasn’t appreciating having a beautiful woman writhing all over him, that was for fucking sure.
Casting a look over Giulia’s way, I saw her face had turned impossibly stony. Implosion was getting imminent, and I could see the countdown begin ticking down before my very eyes, like it was hovering above her fucking head.
On the brink of nudging Nyx to warn him that shit was about to go down, I knew he’d either reached his limit of Cammie’s bullshit—she knew not to approach him like this, so she was doing the female equivalent of pissing all over him like he was a water hydrant—or he’d seen Giulia’s reaction himself.
“Enough!”
The words were an explosion in and of themselves. The heaving crowd of bikers who were dancing with their slut of choice ground to a halt, someone even switched off the music, because when Nyx used that tone, everyone knew to back the fuck off.
Cammie jerked back like she’d been slapped, and for Nyx, that was about as violent as he’d get with a bitch. He hadn't had to lay a hand on her for Cammie to realize she’d pushed her fucking luck. Just that one word and a glower was enough to have her twirling on her heel and staggering off into the crowd. I could hear her crying and knew it was because the bitch probably thought she was in love with the fucker, but hell, she should have known.
Bikers never made clubwhores their Old Ladies.
It never fucking worked.
And if she’d thought she was special because Nyx was giving her all his attention, she was wrong.
Looking over at Giulia, I didn't find any smugness in her expression. Mostly, there was surprise. But when Nyx twisted back around to face the bar, it didn’t shock me to see a look of yearning written into her features.
Sometimes, the heart knew what the heart wanted, and the brain knew the heart was fucking stupid.
I clapped Nyx on the back. “I think you’re back in her good books.”
He sniffed. “You think my shouting at a slut who had no right to touch me, in front of the woman I actually want, is going to put me in her good books?”
I winced. When he put it like that…
“If you’re done with Cammie, that mean I can have a go at her?”
I glowered at Sin’s shitty timing. “Really, man?”
He shrugged. “She’s hot.” Like that said it all.
“I have eyes too, but there’s a time and a fucking place, man.”
“She never was mine anyway,” Nyx grunted. “Have at her.”
The words weren’t loud enough to be heard over the crowd, but I knew enough people heard and recognized what that meant.
Of course, everyone but fucking Giulia recognized the significance of his words. But that fit. Both she and Nyx were difficult motherfuckers. Trust her to misunderstand.
She bowed her head over her can of Coke, making me wonder what she was even doing here. After all, she’d only just closed the bar up, and I knew she had to be exhausted because the place had to take a lot of work.
But here she was.
A glutton for punishment?
I slapped Nyx on the back again. “You know what you just did, right?”
“I did nothing,” he denied.
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, you keep on telling yourself that.”
He shrugged off my hand and powered off the bar in an explosive movement that had Giulia flinching. That her focus was so utterly on him, even though she didn’t want it to be, was clear.
Because the two of them were no hopes, after Nyx headed off to only God knew where, I slouched over her way.
She cared for Nyx, anyone could see that, and the truth was, Nyx was my brother. I couldn’t love him more if he was flesh and fucking blood.
Lighting up the second I was beside her, I laughed a little when she glowered at me and grumbled, “Feel free to poison your own air but leave mine free and clear.”
“Shouldn’t be sitting in here if you didn’t want secondhand smoke.”
She ran her fingertip over the rim of the can. “Didn’t feel like sitting on my own.”
I cocked a brow. “I thought you’d be fucking exhausted after what you’ve been doing at the bar.”
“I am, but that doesn’t mean I can get to sleep easily,” she muttered.
“You do know you catch more flies with honey than vinegar, right?”
She twisted her neck so she could grace me with her lemon-sucking expression. “Who the fuck said I want to catch flies?”
“Me.” I smirked at her. “I’ve known Nyx a long time. You’re smart enough to figure out that he doesn’t like his business to be public. That’s why Cammie’s claiming went as bad as it could go.”
“Yeah? So?”
“So, if you think he’s the kind of guy that playing hard to get works on—”
She snorted. “Link, save your fucking advice. I’m not doing shit to entice Nyx. He’s the one who reminded me of what he is.”
I frowned at her. “What is he?”
“Just like my father.”
And with that, she stormed off, leaving me gaping at her, because Nyx was nothing like Dog.
“Well, that couldn’t have gone much worse.”
Recognizing my Prez’s voice without having to turn my head, I muttered, “You got that damn straight. What the fuck did Nyx do?”
“I’m not sure, but the first day she was at the bar, when you were late meeting up with the Wolves—”
“I’d like to know how you can be late for an appointment that didn’t exist?” I grunted, because I was getting sick of defending myself on that score.
I’d known buttkiss about the Wolves headin
g into our territory to check over the garage, but everyone, Nyx included, had blamed me for being late and for forgetting to inform the council that they were entering our city.
Rex just rolled his eyes and said, “Anyway, she had to get a cab back from West Essex.” He laughed a little. “She got a receipt and made me pay her back for the expenses.”
“You like her,” I said slowly, my eyes wide as I made that realization.
“I barely know her, but I like her for him. I think she’s exactly what he fucking needs. She isn’t scared of him.”
“Fuck off. No woman is scared of him. They all go to him when they want him to save their asses—”
“Physically, they know they’re safe, but…” He tapped his temple with a tattooed finger. “Up here, they know to be wary of him, and you can’t blame them for it. Their instincts are on point. But Giulia will give him shit, and that’s exactly what he needs.”
I thought about that a second and muttered, “Maybe she doesn’t know what he is. What he’s done.”
“Undoubtedly. But the women don’t really know.”
“They watch the news,” I said dryly.
“They think we’re all involved. They don’t know it’s personal for him. They don’t know it’s his way of cauterizing old wounds.” He reached for the shot glass Sin slid his way. As he stared into the liquid, he grunted, “You meant well, but they're both too prickly to accept any advice.”
I winced at that, because he wasn’t wrong. He saw my wince and smiled a little. “You always have to fix shit, don’t you, bro?”
“If I can,” I admitted gruffly. I hated to see people suffering for no goddamn reason. Sometimes, when you took a step back from the situation, only then could you see things that up close were blurred.
Fixing things for the people I gave a shit about was the only way I could help. If it meant they called me an interfering motherfucker, I’d take it because, hell, that was why I’d been given this road name.
Because I was the link between so many of the brothers here.
The person who knew all their secrets, and who’d die before I’d reveal a fucking one to any bastard. Be they friend or foe.
❖
NYX
Forgotten & Found: A Dark & Dirty Sinners' MC Boxset Page 17