Maverick (Carter Brothers Book 5)

by Lisa Helen Gray

  “Sorry, but fuck you. Did you―hell, any of you―or his brothers even bother to ask him why he didn’t tell you? Or why he never said anything to them about what happened? I’m sorry about what happened to your men, I really am, but it happened to Maverick too and if you ask me, Malik and Mason got off fucking easy in comparison,” I snap heatedly, my breathing harsh. Every time I think of what Mav told me the night we found out about Lynn, my stomach turns. But what hurts is that not one has asked him about what he went through, or even seems to care.

  The room fills with an awkward silence, each of us thinking about what’s just been said. I’m about to apologise for my behaviour, knowing it isn’t my place, when Denny speaks.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” she tells me, shamefaced.

  “You’re upset, just like everyone else is. Don’t worry about it. And I’m sorry for biting your head off, but I’m just really worried about Mav. I know I’ve not known any of you long, nor do I have the history you share together, but from the very beginning I could tell you were all a close-knit family. But it was Mav who raised them, made sure they stuck together. He gave up everything just to make sure they had a happy life. Hell, he even let his father do what he did to him so they didn’t have to go through it. And instead of being appreciated for his heroism, he gets shunned for one mistake. Can you understand why I’m so upset?”

  They all seem to think it over, their faces a mix of shame and discomfort. “We’ve all been unfair, but none of us hate or blame him, Teagan. We love him,” Harlow tells me softly. It’s good to hear. I know it’s one of the many things that Maverick has been worried sick over, even though he won’t admit it. He respects his brothers and their girlfriends, so them having any ill feelings towards him matters greatly to him.

  “I’m just being a bitch. Mase was messed up for years over what happened to him. Our relationship suffered because of it at one point, and I know he’s never forgiven himself for it. He was starting to live with it, but having it all blow up again has brought back all those suppressed memories.”

  “Same with Malik. It brought back a lot of aggression towards his parents,” Harlow says to Denny, understanding her concern for Mason.

  “I think it’s affected them all. I’ve never known Max to act like a normal human being in all the time I’ve known him. He’s not cracked one joke all week,” Lake informs us, something I already know.

  “True. Faith was beginning to think he was sick,” I remark.

  “How is Myles doing?” Denny asks, looking at Kayla.

  “He’s been quiet, but I think that’s because my sickness bug has kept him distracted,” she explains.

  “I didn’t know you were sick. I thought you were avoiding us,” I say softly.

  “It wasn’t bad. I just didn’t want to risk anyone else getting it on top of everything else going on.”

  “You can always come to us,” Denny says.

  I watch the love and devotion pass through each woman. They might not be blood related, but they’re family in every sense of the word. It’s an honour to be a part of it.

  Now I feel like shit for questioning where their loyalties lie. I look down to my lap, ashamed as I twiddle my fingers.

  “You love him, don’t you?” Kayla states softly, even though it comes out as a question.

  Lifting my head, I take in her serious expression and slump backwards in my chair. There’s no way they’ll let me avoid the question; I can see written across their expressions.

  “I really do,” I admit, my eyes stinging from unleashed tears. I’ve not even told him because I’m scared he doesn’t feel the same way. “I don’t know what to do to make this right for him. I’ve only ever loved four people in my life―my mum, Nan, Tish and Faith. My dad doesn’t count because I never knew him. It’s not the same love. I’m struggling on what I’m supposed to be doing.”

  “Hey, take a deep breath. There isn’t a rule book and if there were, I doubt it would cover what to do in our situation. What you’re doing―being there―it’s all you can do,” Harlow tells me, her eyes filled with understanding.

  “She’s right. I’ve watched him with you the past week and can tell he’s cherished every second of your presence. I think you help him more than you realise,” Lake offers, her tone also gentle.

  “Lord, I hope so. Some days I feel like I’m just getting in the way,” I mutter, praying she’s right. I can’t lose him. My heart couldn’t take it.

  We fall into silence once again, but Tish storming into the room interrupts that. Her expression is thunderous, her wild hair covered in a bright orange bandana.

  “Fucking arsehole,” she fumes.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask, sitting up straighter. She’s only been gone twenty minutes, what could of possibly have happened?

  “Fucker, I didn’t get the happy ending massage I asked for.”

  I gasp along with the others, who stare at her open-mouthed, stunned by her outburst.

  “Tish, we’re not in a bloody movie. Oh my God, have they called the police?”

  “No, I gave him a happy ending instead.” She winks, sitting down next to me. “Would have got mine too, but his boss interrupted,” she pouts.

  “Tish,” I screech, shaking my head at her.

  “What?” she yells, covering her ears. “Don’t ruin my bliss.”

  I don’t know why her behaviour still gets to me anymore; I should be immune to it. She’s never been one to shy away from expressing what she’s thinking. I don’t even think she has a filter.

  “I cannot believe you,” I splutter, but she waves me off, uncaring.

  “Whatever. I’m going for a swim to cool off,” she tells us, dropping her dressing gown as she gets up.

  “Tish, put them away!” I yell. She has on an orange Lycra bikini that barely covers her large breasts.

  “Wow,” Kayla mutters and I glance her way, laughing when her cheeks redden, looking anywhere but at Tish.

  “I know, right? Got me a bargain at New Look last week. Makes my boobs look fantastic. They’re large and in charge.” She grins, bouncing them.

  “Just go.” I laugh, unable to hide my amusement.

  She leaves without a backwards glance. As soon as she’s out of sight, I turn slowly back to the girls, grinning sheepishly.

  “I swear she does act normal… occasionally.”

  “It’s scary knowing there’s a female version of Max,” Harlow says with wide eyes, still watching the door Tish walked through.

  “Hey, Max isn’t that bad,” Lake protests.

  “No?” Denny questions. “Pretty sure it was Max who showed the whole school his mangina.”

  “He’s changed,” Lake says, defends.

  “He has,” Denny giggles.

  We all sober up, our laughter dying off as our earlier conversation comes back, the air around us thickening.

  “Can I ask you something personal?” Harlow asks, looking down at her stomach as she rubs her bump affectionately.

  “Of course,” I find myself saying, although I’m wary. I hate talking about my past. I prefer for it to stay buried, where it belongs.

  “What was she like? Their mum?”

  I close my eyes, feeling a migraine coming. I knew this moment would come eventually. In fact, I expected to be asked by one of the brothers, but not Harlow.

  Opening my eyes, I give them a grave look, trying to blink away the pain.

  “She was pure evil,” I whisper. “From the moment she turned up on our doorstep, things with my uncle went from bad to worse. She manipulated him, had him wrapped around her little finger. He loved her enough to let her, and I thought he was incapable of feeling anything. She didn’t love him back though. There’s a coldness in her eyes that I’ve never seen in anyone else. She was soulless, unfeeling.”

  “Did she ever talk about the lads?” Denny whispers sadly.

  I’ve raked my mind over this since I found out our pasts are connected, but
I’ve come up with nothing every single time.

  “No, nada. You wouldn’t have even thought she’d ever had kids by looking at her because she was skinny from all the drugs she took, but also because there wasn’t a maternal bone in her body. The way she spoke to me, looked at me―hell, the way she treated me in general―was sinister. She was cruel in every way you can imagine,” I tell them, gulping.

  “I can’t believe the woman you’re describing birthed someone as good as Myles and his brothers,” Kayla says, wiping away her tears.

  “I’m glad they weren’t raised by her,” Denny mutters, her face pale.

  “I just wish we knew how to get rid of her once and for all. If it’s money she wants, she can have it. I have my parents’ inheritance. Malik’s never let me use it,” Harlow says, shrugging.

  “She’d just come back for more once she runs out,” I tell her, knowing that much about Lynn.

  “Why is she doing this? Doesn’t she realise she’s caused enough problems?” Kayla says, her shoulders slumping.

  “I’d like to know why she hasn’t gone to them,” Denny adds, voicing her own concerns.

  I’m thinking that over when Lake speaks up, stopping me short. “Maybe she doesn’t know they’re there, or who they are. She’s been gone over a decade, nearly two. This has to be about money. Trying to get Teagan involved and using the club could just be a coincidence.”

  “No!” I say, my eyes rounding when something occurs to me. Why hadn’t I remembered this before now?

  Because you’ve had a lot going on with getting the life beaten out of you.

  “She does know who the club belongs to. When she came to the flower shop she called him Carter, like she knew who he was. It didn’t even click or seem important until now. I think she used the club to sell drugs because she knew the owner,” I tell them, everything clicking into place.

  “So why not use MC5? Why did she target V.I.P.?” Harlow muses.

  “Because Mason is rarely ever there for night shifts anymore,” Denny answers.

  “What does that have to do with it?” Harlow asks, not following, but I am.

  “Because if he were there, he’d want to keep the club’s reputation clean,” Denny answers, but poor Harlow still isn’t following, so I interrupt, hoping I can explain better.

  “If you were working a night shift and were acting manager and saw someone selling drugs, what would you do?” I ask.

  “Go to the police,” she answers, giving me a ‘duh’ look, but then realisation dawns on her. “Oh.”

  “Exactly, you’d call attention to the problem. She had an in with Holly, but thinking back, I think Holly was being blackmailed somehow. It could mean she’s here for something bigger than selling drugs. We just have to figure out what that is.”

  “I still think it’s money. It’s always about money. She clearly knew where to come to get it because didn’t you live five hours away before you moved in with your nan?” Lake asks.

  I nod, my expression grim. “That means she has some sort of leverage over them to ensure she gets what she wants. She just hasn’t needed to use it yet.”

  “Oh God,” Denny gasps, her eyes watering.

  “What?” We all ask, sitting forward in our seats.

  “The tapes,” she whispers, looking around at each of us.

  I stare wide-eyed, everything starting to make sense. “We need to tell Maverick,” I rush out, getting up to find my clothes.

  “I need to talk to Evan,” Denny says.

  We all turn to see her pale, her expression full of guilt.

  “I know that face. What did you do?” Harlow asks warily.

  “I asked Evan to make sure those tapes were really gone. He knows a few people who work on special victim cases just like this. He said he’ll call in a favour for me and find out what he can. I know it’s not my place, but I couldn’t look my husband in the eye every day, see that haunted look, knowing there was something I could do. The first three nights he had nightmares and he’d scream out for those tapes,” she shares before she begins to sob into her hands.

  Her bitchiness from earlier begins to make more sense. I move over to comfort her, unable to see her in this state and do nothing.

  “It will be fine, Denny,” Harlow whispers, her own tears falling.

  “If I had those connections, I’d have done the same,” I tell Denny, holding her hands in her lap. “If we’re right about this, then it’s good we got a head start. But as of right now, we’re going on wild speculation.

  “Let’s go to the men, tell them what we’ve come up with and go from there. Text your brother, tell him to meet us at the club.”

  Denny nods, wiping her eyes before grabbing her phone off the table between her and Harlow.

  If we’re right about this―and I hope we’re not―their whole life is about to blow up for the second time in a week.

  Please let me be wrong.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  MAVERICK

  “I certainly did, my boys.”

  Our heads whip around towards the new voice in the room, and my eyes widen in horror when I see our mother standing before us. My mind and body completely lock up, and I can’t help but feel like a scared little boy.

  She’s nothing like how I remembered; she’s older, more jaded, and stone-faced. She’s dressed in skinny black jeans, black knee-high boots and a leather puffy coat, the hood lined with fur. She’s clearly trying to pull off a youthful look, but all I can think of when I look at her, is mutton dressed as lamb. Her hair is scraped back in a ponytail, looking oily from the excessive amount of hair products. Her face is pinched together in a stern expression, inspecting us before quickly dismissing us with a look of disgust.

  Finally snapping out of it, I notice my brothers have moved at my side. Mason and Myles stand off to my left, Malik and Max to my right, leaving me in the middle, glaring down at the woman before me.

  I eye her warily, not wanting to underestimate her. Not again. All week while I’ve been inside working, Evan has been outside watching and waiting for her to show up. It was the only plan he could come up with, to trap her in a place where we knew she’d most likely come―the club. But she’s chosen the one day Evan isn’t here watching, like she had someone watching us as well.

  “Myles, call the cops,” I demand, not taking my eyes off her. Just then, four men step into the room, all wearing deadly expressions.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” she warns, and I feel Myles stop, his eyes burning into the side of my head.

  “And why’s that?” I ask, my voice hard, cold.

  “I have something you’ll want, and you have something I need. I think we can work out some sort of arrangement to make sure we both get what we want.”

  “Yeah, that’s not going to happen. There’s nothing you have that I could possibly want… except for you to fuck off.”

  “Oh, but I do.”

  “Pretty sure we’ve all outgrown breastfeeding, Mother,” Max tells her sarcastically.

  She turns her head, looking at him distastefully. There’s no emotion in her eyes, not even a flicker. You’d think a mother who hadn’t seen her sons since they were babies would show something.

  Not her.

  “And which one are you?” she asks, sticking her nose in the air.

  He laughs, throwing his head back. I’ve already had enough and take a step forward. Her goons move into a protective stance beside her and I sneer.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Malik bites out. I can tell he’s barely checking in his anger, and I can’t say I blame him. I’d never hurt a woman, but the drive to wrap my hands around her throat is compelling.

  “I just want what I came for. Then I’ll be on my merry way.” She sounds smug, like she really believes she’ll get it.

  “You’ll be getting fuck all from us,” I tell her before turning to Myles. “Call the police.”

  “Calling them won’t help your sister,” she says.


  My eyes narrow as I take a menacing step forward. “We don’t have a sister.”

  “Yep, pretty sure we all got dicks,” Max mutters.

  “Debatable,” she snarls, shaking her head. “But you see, you do have a sister. A half-sister who is three-years-old. So, are you ready to listen?”

  I shake my head, not trusting anything she has to say, though her expression indicates she’s telling the truth. “I don’t fucking believe you. Why should we?”

  “You’d have called the police the minute I told you if you didn’t. But if you want proof, I have a picture.” She takes a step forward, holding her phone out to me. I glance at the picture of a little girl, huddled in a dirty blanket, sleeping. Her face is barely visible, her brown hair knotted around her face and a ratty teddy cuddled to her chest.

  “That could be anyone’s kid,” I scoff, stepping back. I try to come off as blasé, hoping she can’t tell how much her confession has really gotten to me.

  “Oh, but she’s not. And you five should know by now that I don’t do kids.”

  Malik curses under his breath, stepping forward. He doesn’t get far before one of the men take a step towards him.

  Before I have chance to stop him, Malik’s throwing a punch at the bloke closest to him.

  “Malik,” I shout, just as another goon steps forward. I growl, punching him in the jaw and knocking him to the floor. I jump over him when Malik and the guy fall into the hallway, landing punch after punch. “Stop!”

  They don’t listen or they can’t hear me, so I grab the guy fighting Malik, throwing him behind me. I watch as he stumbles into the wall, falling to the floor with a thud. I turn to make sure Malik is okay when a punch connects with my jaw. Wincing, I rub my throbbing jaw, frowning at my brother.

  “Fuck!” he roars, pulling at the strands of his hair, his face red, seething with anger.

  “Myles, call the fucking police,” I shout and pull Malik back into the room, past our mother and the other guys to stand beside Mason and Max.

  “Well then, I guess I’ll sell her to the highest bidder,” she mutters, like it’s a hardship. Myles puts the phone down, looking at me pleadingly, and I sigh. I know that, no matter what, I couldn’t let her sell a child, even if she might not be my sister.