by Bella Jewel
“I got kidnapped!” Jaylah says, throwing her hands in the air. “Look at my face. I was assaulted on this ship and if action is not taken, I’ll sue you and everyone you work for. What’s it going to be?”
Michael looks to the other guard, who I haven’t seen before, and then exhales and says, “I’ll give them a call.”
He turns and walks into the office, and Jaylah turns to me and grins before looking to Maddox and saying, “That’s how it’s done.”
“Don’t get all cocky,” he murmurs.
We wait until Michael comes back out and informs us that officer Rydell is coming up and will be with us momentarily. Then he informs us to take a seat, but only those of us who absolutely have to be here. In the end I stay, with Jackson, Spike, Jaylah and Mack. The rest of the group go back to their rooms for some well-earned sleep.
Officer Rydell arrives about twenty minutes later, looking more than a little sleep deprived and glares at us as he walks in. “You lot again.”
“Sorry to bother you,” Jaylah says, standing. “We’re not here to cause trouble, but there is something we think you should know and Michael over here wasn’t taking us seriously. But there is a dangerous man on board, and tonight that man caught and hurt me. There is security footage to prove it, well, we hope it recorded and we’d like it looked at. This will prove we had nothing to do with those murders.”
Officer Rydell tips his head to the side, studies all of us, then exhales. “Come inside, I need to sit down.”
We go into the office and sit down, and then he orders us to tell him everything from the start. We do so, and when we’re done he turns to Michael and says, “Bring up the footage for the evening. Let’s see if we got anything of substance.”
Michael nods and starts going through the footage. While he’s doing that, I turn to Spike. “I hope it recorded.”
“You and me both, honey,” he murmurs. “Fuckin’ some vacation.”
Damn right.
This is the worst vacation ever.
About half an hour later, Michael says, “I’ve got something.”
We all go over to the screen and he plays a video of Jaylah and Vincent in the hall. She was right, it did capture it and her words are clear as day. There is also footage of when he took her back to his room, and was pretending she was his wife. Well played, if we didn’t check these, nobody would think twice about it because she just looks like a drunk woman arguing with her husband.
“This is good footage,” Officer Rydell says, turning to us. “Can you give me the information you have, I’ll need to bring Vincent into custody. The police are already waiting for our return, the more information we have to give them, the better it’ll be.”
“He’s confessed to killing those two men,” I tell him. “He’s a very bad man.”
Officer Rydell nods, and then orders Michael to get his partner as they’ll need to get Vincent and hold him until the ship can stop and the police can get further involved. Michael makes a few calls and I turn to Jaylah and grin, “We did it.”
“Damn right,” she nods, happily.
“Once you’ve all written a statement, you can all go back to your rooms now. I’d recommend staying there until we stop. The police are going to want to question you still, but I believe this footage should be enough to clear you. Still, we don’t need any more trouble so stay put,” Officer Rydell tells us.
“Trust me, they won’t be causin’ anymore drama,” Spike says, taking my arm and pulling me to his side.
I grin at Jaylah again, and Mack steps up beside her and says something in her ear. She looks to him, her eyes warm and loving, and then we all write our statements and head back to our rooms to await the morning and whatever it’ll bring. Relief washes through my body when Spike and I reach out rooms, because this is finally over. I wish we could continue on with our vacation, but at least we’re not going to get arrested.
“How’d it go?” Addison asks, coming out of her room a moment later. She must have been waiting for our return.
Cade pops out, too.
“The footage was there and so far, so good,” Spike says, “looks like you’re all in the clear.”
Addi sighs and says, “Oh thank god.”
“We’ve been told to stay in our rooms,” Jackson adds. “Which is fine with me because I haven’t fuckin’ relaxed since I got on this ship.”
He walks past us all and goes into his room, closing the door. I turn to Addi and say, “We’re going to get some sleep. We’ll come by in the morning.”
She nods, and Cade gives us a smile before disappearing back into the room. I look to Spike with a long exhale. “I could sleep for days.”
“I could fuck you for days,” he growls, taking my hand and tugging me into the room.
Oh.
Well.
That works, too.
FUCK.
Fuck me he does.
For the rest of the night Spike gives me all of his attention. His mouth between my legs, my mouth on his cock. His body over mine, my body grinding against his. Our mouths, our tongues, our hands. Everything works together until we’re so overwhelmed with pleasure we have no other option but to stop and finally try to get some sleep.
My body is exhausted, but happy, completely happy.
Spike pulls me into his arms and we sleep until the morning light trickles through our window and the sound of someone knocking on our door wakes us. I rub my eyes, my body pleasantly sore from our efforts last night. Well, this morning. I roll and groan, finding a robe and pulling it on before walking towards the door and opening it.
I see Addison and Cade standing, bags in hand, both of them ready to get the hell off this ship. “It’s time to go you two.”
“Shit, is it?” I croak, rubbing my eyes again.
“Yep, let’s roll and get this police business over with so we can go home and forget this horrible trip ever happened.”
“Give us ten,” I murmur. “We’ll meet you downstairs.”
She nods and the two of them disappear. Spike and I get up, get changed and stuff all of our things into our suitcases before meeting them all downstairs. The Jokers have found their way down, too, and they are all standing together with Officer Rydell, who is apparently going to escort us all off the ship and to the police station for questioning. He also tells us they’ve detained Vincent and will be pressing charges.
“Well,” Jaylah says, stepping up beside me. “That was a crappy trip, but I’m glad we got to know each other better.”
I smile at her. “Yeah, me too. It’s good for us all, I think. We needed to get past that ‘other club bad news’ caveman crap.”
She laughs and nods. “You’re right about that. The kids will be thrilled.”
“No doubt. I’m just glad we’re not going to get into trouble. We make pretty good detectives.”
She snorts, and rolls her eyes, “I’m not so sure about that, but we did manage to sort it out so that’s something. I don’t think I’ll be changing my day job anytime soon though.”
I laugh. “Nope, definitely not.”
“If you’ll all follow me now,” Officer Rydell says, “we’ll get this sorted as quickly as we can for you.”
We exit the ship and as soon as we’re off we end up heading back to the station where we are questioned for a few hours before finally being able to go home. Frustrated and tired, Spike and I roll in home and straight into our bed. The disappointment I feel that we’re already off the ship and our vacation is over makes me want to scream.
I needed this vacation, more than I needed anything.
As I’m lying in bed next to my gorgeous man who is sleeping, I get an idea.
A great idea.
A brilliant idea.
And they’re all just going to have to like it.
14
JAYLAH
I WATCH MACK SLEEPING, his hand tucked up under his head, his bicep flexing. It’s the only time he looks peaceful, like nothing in the world i
s bothering him. It’s like the only time he can get away from the horror that torments his mind. I wonder if it gets him in there, too. Does he feel the pain? Does it get to him and make him feel like he can’t even escape it in there, or is it all peaceful?
I turn and walk out, closing the door softly and walking downstairs.
When he wakes, we’ll talk. We’ll fix this. We’ll make things better. He’ll get help and we’ll get back on track. God, I hope that’s how it goes anyway. I don’t want anything for Christmas, I only want him. My biker. Happy. Loving. Wanting to fuck my brains out like he often does.
I just need him to come back to me.
“You look horrible.”
I spin around and see Diesel standing in the kitchen, staring at me. He has that same look his dad holds. The same intense eyes. The same intense personality. Yet I love him. I love him so dearly it’s almost unbelievable. It’s hard, when a child isn’t yours, and you often wonder as I did at the start, if you can love them the same way.
I can tell you that you can.
Oh boy you can.
“Come over here and give me a hug,” I say to him.
He walks over, as he always does, and he hugs me. He’s always hugged me. Always. When he was a boy, when he turned into a man. I’ve always been his momma, and I’ve always been there for him. Even when he drives me crazy. Even when I want to throttle him. It doesn’t matter, he’s my boy.
He’ll always be my boy.
“Your trip when to shit, huh?” he says, stepping back. He studies my face, and my swelling, sore black eye. “Who the fuck did that to you? I hope dad sorted them out?”
I laugh, and oh do I want him to hug me just a little longer, but I don’t push it. Diesel is like his daddy. Affectionate to a point, and then you’ve gotta let them go. Stubborn ass men they are.
“He’s sorted out, don’t worry about that,” I exhale, sitting on the kitchen stool. “Listen, I need to talk to you about Mack. He’s been having a hard time, and we didn’t do so well on that cruise. It’ll be okay, I know it will, but he’s suffering and I think he needs you. Needs us. Needs everyone.”
Diesel narrows his eyes. “What do you mean he’s suffering?”
“I think he’s depressed. He ended things with me, on the ship. He actually ended them. For a moment, I thought it wasn’t going to work itself out. But when I got taken, and this all blew up, he freaked out and realized he does want to be with me, he’s just lost. He’s got a lot going on. Maybe his leg. Maybe just life. Either way, he’s going to need us together, to help him through it.”
“Suspected he had something going on. He’s been off for a few months.”
“Yeah,” I nod. “You think he’s moody on a normal day, you should take a shot at him now.”
Diesel grins, small, but there. Again, just like his daddy. “I can imagine. Lucky you’re tough, you know how to handle him.”
I snort. “Not on that ship I didn’t. God, I thought about throwing him overboard more than once.”
He grabs my shoulder and squeezes. “But you didn’t, that’s all that matters.”
I laugh. “Anyway, how’s Mercy? Why isn’t she here? I bonded with Ciara on our trip. Can you believe we were all on the same cruise?”
Diesel laughs. “When we figured it out, we had bets going on how it would end. Certainly didn’t think you’d bond.”
“They’re good people,” I shrug. “I wish we had gotten over this hurdle sooner.”
“They are good people. Glad you and dad can see that. Make it easier on Mercy and I.”
“Anyway, tell me why my favorite adopted child isn’t here?”
“Saying she’s your adopted child is just weird,” Diesel mutters. “And she’s workin’.”
“Well, tell her not to work. Tell her to come here and hug her momma.”
“Jesus,” Diesel rolls his eyes. “I didn’t miss you.”
I grin at him and stand, leaning in for another hug. “Oh, you missed me.”
“Not at all.”
“So much.”
“Not really.”
“So so much.”
He chuckles and kisses my forehead. “Yeah, I missed you. You old dragon.”
I shove him and he laughs low. “You better watch yourself. You might be bigger than your daddy but I can still take you down.”
I thump him in the belly and he wheezes and then laughs. “No doubt!”
“What are you two carrying on about?”
We both turn and see Mack walking down the stairs, shirtless, looking so damned good I want to jump him. Of course I wouldn’t do that, you know, child trauma and all that. But damn, I’m craving him so damned bad I can hardly think straight. I want him more than I want anything right now. Literally.
“Dad,” Diesel says. “How’s it going?”
Mack shrugs, and then his eyes swing to me and my heart flutters against my ribcage. He hasn’t actually looked at me for months, not like that anyway. I can feel his stare. I can feel it right down to my bones.
“Good,” he murmurs, looking back to his son. “How’s it rollin’, boy?”
Diesel nods, “Same old same old. I’ve gotta get going, I just wanted to check in on you two after what happened on the ship. You’re all good?”
Mack nods. “All good.”
Diesel comes over and gives me another much anticipated hug, and then he’s gone.
And we’re alone.
Where to from here?
“SO,” CIARA SAYS, STANDING at my front door. “I have an idea.”
I blink, and then shake my head and smile. “Come in, I can’t believe you’re here.”
“I wasn’t just going to throw our friendship away. We were way too good together.”
I chuckle. “You’re right about that, lady. What’s your idea?”
“Well, we all missed out on our vacation and our relaxing time away from the kids and the drama, so, I went ahead and booked us a house by the beach. It’s a little bit of a drive, but we all have time off anyway, so I figured why the hell not. It’s not a boat, and it’s not exotic islands, but it is a beach, and us, and a vacation. What do you say?”
I stare at her, and then a huge grin spreads across my face. “I say you’re a damned genius! Yes, I’m totally in. Of course, I’ll check with Mack, but either way I’m coming. It sounds great.”
“This is awesome. I figured I would ask you first and then we could go and convince the rest of the club together. Everyone on my side is surprisingly excited, so we just need your side in the mix.”
“I’m fairly certain they’ll say yes. God knows we all need it.”
“It’s a plan then!” she claps. “I’m so stinking excited. You should see this house, it’s amazing.”
“Let me grab my keys and we’ll go see Ash and Tana. Oh, I wonder if Pippa might want to come too? Oh, let’s go.”
“We roped Muff and Janine because they can make it for a weekend, so we’ll have extras, too.”
“Wait, did you just say Muff?” I giggle.
She laughs. “Yep.”
“Man, this is going to be good. Let’s go.”
We get in the car and drive to the clubhouse first, to find everyone there thankfully. When Ciara and I get out, all eyes are on us. They’re no doubt wondering what Ciara is doing here, and why we’re both grinning like a bunch of kids on Christmas.
“Ciara, hey!” Tana waves, coming over and hugging Ciara. “What are you doing here?”
“She has a great idea, we want to run it past all of you,” I say, smiling and hugging Pippa when she comes over.
“How are you, Jay? I heard you had quite an adventure!”
I squeeze her. “You could say that. How are you, honey?”
“Good. Now, tell us about this idea.”
Ciara claps her hands together, “Well, I booked a house by the beach. It’s a massive house, heaps of rooms so we can all stay. We’re going down tomorrow to finish our vacation and we want you all to come
with us. I know you’re probably thinking no way, but we really want you to join us!”
“You run this by Jacks?” Maddox asks, leaning back in his chair and lighting a cigarette.
“I did, and he’s surprisingly cool with it. So...”
She puts her hands together in a pleading motion, and everyone looks at each other. Ash gives Krypt a pleading smile, and Santana jumps up and down happily, shouting ‘yes!’.
“What do you think, boss?” Krypt asks Maddox.
“I think fuckin’ why not. We were meant to go on a vacation. Let’s finish it.”
“Yay!” Santana squeals, throwing herself at Maddox who catches her with a chuckle.
Ash does a little happy dance and Pippa claps her hands together, saying, “Tyke and I can only come for a couple of days, but we’re definitely in!”
“Awesome,” Ciara claps. “This is great news. We’re on the road tomorrow morning, we can meet somewhere and travel together.”
“Sounds good,” I say, feeling excitement bubble in my chest. “Just text me when you know where you want to leave from and what time, and we’ll be there.”
“Super!” Ciara beams. “I better head back, I have to pack but I’m so excited you all agreed. And without argument.”
Maddox grins. “Well, can’t hate each other forever, yeah?”
Ciara rolls her eyes. “There was never any hate. Just gigantic pride covered in leather.”
Everyone laughs and I say, “I’ll take you back home to get your car! I have to pack!”
We say goodbye to everyone and head home, Ciara tells me she’ll text me and then she leaves. Mack arrives home from seeing a doctor a few minutes later, and when I see him, looking almost relieved, I ask him how he went.
“Yeah, good. Got some appointments, some medication, but you were right.”
I exhale, quietly of course. “I’m so glad you took the first step,” I say, walking over and daring to put my arms around him and rest my head on his chest. “It’ll be a bumpy road, but we’ll ride it together. Like we always do.”
He puts his arms around me and squeezes me, just slightly. The smallest step, but a step all the same. “Yeah,” he murmurs. “Yeah, we will.”