by Blue Remy
“I trust you would have.”
Mace drew in a breath and stood up. “I guess I need to go have a talk with Stone. I’m sure he knows about Amy and me, but I’d hate to have him hear it from someone else.”
“Be sure to wear protection, I’d hate to be in your shoes for that conversation.”
“I’ve got a Kevlar vest I’ll wear.”
“Fuck that, wear a helmet or a cup. He’ll aim for the head or the dick. Take your pick.”
CHAPTER 23
Mace made his way home, showered and sat in his room, trying to figure out how he was going to handle this situation. He made an important phone call, got everything set up the way he needed to, made his way out to the kitchen and fixed himself a snack and a drink.
Amy texted him to let him know that she was stopping to see Thorne and check on Maggie who was barely leaving her sister’s side. Not that he could blame her. If it was Elliot, he’d have been right beside him the whole time.
Coffee perked, sandwich material on the table, chip bag opened, it was time to feast. Pouring himself a cup of java, he turned around as Stone wandered in. Mace grabbed an extra cup, pouring Stone some coffee as well. Setting both mugs down on the kitchen table, he pulled out a chair and sat down.
“Want a sandwich?” He pointed to the fixings on the table and the paper plates next to it. “I make a mean club.”
Stone lifted a corner of his mouth up in a lazy smile, giving a small nod. “May as well.”
Mace leaned back and opened the fridge. Tipping his chair back more, he barely grabbed the mayo before the chair nearly slipped out from under him. Slamming his chair forward, he laughed as he set the dressing to the table. “Well that would have ended bad.”
“Ya think?” Stone joined in laughing with Mace. “So, Romeo called me.”
Now wasn’t this nice dinner conversation?
No.
Appetite ruined, Mace was going to have to force himself to eat. It was bad enough he was dealing with emotional baggage he was trying to get rid of, but now Stone wanted to add to it? Just. Fucking. Great.
“Oh? What about?” Mace pulled out the bread and set it to a plate.
“Muerte being the leader of the TGMC.” Stone picked up the mug, setting his elbows on the table and relaxing. “That could pose a rather big problem for the MC.”
“I’ve heard he’s a force to be reckoned with. No conscience about anything.”
Stone nodded, taking a long drink of the coffee. “You got that right. See, Lobo was the president when I had my run-in with the club. He wasn’t one to attack women or kids. He declared war on an MC once for killing one of the women.” Stone slowly shook his head. “Not the case with Muerte. Whatever is in his way, he’ll mow it down. Personally, I’ve never seen him attack innocents, which is why I’m taken aback by what Demon did.”
Mace slathered two sides of bread with mayo, refusing to look at Stone. This conversation was going to go south. There was no way around it. It was one of those had to be faced head on, consequences be damned. Laying down some lettuce, two slices of tomatoes, he opened up the fresh cut meat.
“I’m not.” Now that that was out there, he set a handful of shaved pastrami on top of the tomatoes.
“Why?”
Mace glanced up at Stone, then back to the meat. “Demon acted alone. I’m willing to bet this was an unsanctioned act and that Muerte had no idea it was going to happen.”
“What are you getting at?”
Mace laid down roast beef and turkey, followed by pepper-jack cheese, then topped it all off with the other piece of bread. Cutting the sandwich, he pushed it over to Stone. “Demon has always wanted your position, Stone. You knew that when he tattooed Amy’s name on him and when I took him from her. He has to get it some other way. So why not make you look bad? Why not attack the club as a whole with another MC as a backing?”
He repeated the process of making himself a sandwich, never looking at Stone as he continued on his theory. “My bet is, Saber and Thorne weren’t supposed to live. They were meant to die in that wreck, but once again, shit happened. This isn’t going to get any easier. He’s probably already gone to Muerte and filled his head with of some random off the wall, poor-is-me bullshit to get sympathy.”
“What exactly do you mean by you took Amy from him?”
Of course that would be all the old man heard out of that whole theory. Mace looked up after cutting his own sandwich, making sure the knife was away from Stone, even if he was carrying a gun. May as well just face it straight on. “We’re seeing each other. She made it very clear the night of my patch in when Tasha was given to me.” Mace raised his hands, making quotation motions with his fingers when he said ‘given.’ “Demon had a little hand in that shindig. He’s been pissed off ever since. He was watching her like a hawk and giving her looks that screamed abusive and possessive. I’ve been trying to keep her by my side since, frankly, I don’t trust the son of a bitch and I think he’s going to pull the one liner ‘If I can’t have her, no one can.’ ”
Stone stared at Mace like he had prophesized the second coming of Jesus. “Amy told me there was a possibility that you two might end up dating. I never thought it would happen.” Pushing away from the table, he stared at Mace with a flat expression, his eyes hooded and unreadable. “We both know she’s going to get hurt, Mace. In the end, she’ll end up hurt, one way or another.”
“You can’t read the future any better than I can, Stone. I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m thirty, she’s twenty-five. We’re both consenting adults, like it or not. She respected you and the colors and told you what might happen. I’m telling you I’m in love with your daughter and I don’t want to see her hurt, or worse, by that bastard.”
It wasn’t exactly supposed to come out that way, but the brain to mouth filter seemed to have run out of give-a-fucks. And it looked like Mace just slapped the shit out of Stone by the look on his face.
“You’re in love with her?”
Mace clenched his jaw and half sighed, half growled. “Yeah, I am. I didn’t exactly want it to come out that way, but it did, so oh well.” Reaching for the bag of chips, he yanked the bag open and dumped some out on his plate. Setting it back to the table, he popped one into his mouth. “I know I’m not perfect, far from it, but I’m not into playing property swap or getting any strange. I’m not interested in accepting any other gifts either. I prefer keeping my balls where they are.”
Stone laughed as he dug into the bag and grabbed a handful of chips to set to his plate. “She would definitely cut them off and wear them as a necklace to prove a point. Her mother taught her well.” He looked up, setting the ruthless gaze on him. “I’m not perfect either, Mace. But never forget. You are only a man. Shit happens, and if it does, fucking come clean. Don’t lie about it.”
The insight into Stone’s private life was unexpected, and not really wanted. Amy wasn’t aware of it, but Stone had come clean with his wife, and they had survived. That gave him a small glimmer of hope for the coming days
“I bought Amy a champion AQHA stallion today. He’s going to be delivered in eight days. I wanted you to know.”
Stone looked up in surprise, “Why? Mace, that was too much.”
“Because I do love her, and she’s not a rose’s kind of girl. She gave me Envidio and I wanted to return the show of affection. He’s a breeder and I know she wants to get into the world of breeding.”
Stone chuckled and shook his head. “She’s going to kill you.”
“I have no doubt about that.” Mace grinned and turned his attention back to his meal. He smiled to himself, amazed that Stone was taking it all in stride; or at least that was the emotion he was allowing Mace to think he was showing. If he was given the information he dished out to Stone, he’d be a raging psychopath wanting heads to roll.
Guess that was why Stone was Stone, cold and calculating.
* * * *
Amy nodded to Dalton as she stepped past him to get
into Thorne’s room, but stopped just beside him. Looking down at the younger carbon copy of Saber, Amy canted her head to the left. “Are you doing okay?”
Dalton’s stoic face became rather animated with confusion as he glanced to his right, then left, then back to the right, eyes dropping to Amy. “Me? Yeah, I’m good, why?”
She laughed under her breath and leaned against the doorjamb, peeking in on Maggie and Thorne. Thorne sat at a low angle in bed, her face and throat wrapped up, much like a mummy, with just her eyes visible. Maggie sat in a chair, passed out with her head on the edge of the bed.
Amy shook her head and looked back to Dalton. “Want some coffee or water? Soda? Anything to eat? I know they’ve been working you to death keeping you here. If you need to go take a leak, I can stand here for you.”
“No, I’m good. Thank you though.”
She patted his arm as she pushed off the jamb. “You’re nicer than Saber, what gives?”
Dalton grinned and lifted a single shoulder. “Don’t got to be a dick to get your point across. I’m just as mean as him, I just have a nicer way of saying fuck you.”
Amy snickered and gave him a thumbs up. “I like you, Dalton. I think you’ll make a great addition.” Stepping into the room, she pulled the door shut, the near silent click sounding like a gunshot in the quiet room.
Maggie’s head jerked up, her brown eyes wide in surprise, hand lifting to wipe the trail of drool from her mouth. “Hey.” Her voice was low, glancing to the still form on the bed.
“You don’t have to whisper. I’m awake.” Thorne muttered, her drug hazed eyes opening.
Amy was always amazed by the color of Thorne’s eyes. They were the lightest color of brown she had ever seen. They reminded her of crystal clear amber that had the tiniest flecks of onyx in them, surrounded by the longest, thickest set of lashes she only wished she possessed.
“Yay, you’re awake. I snuck in your favorite donut holes.” Amy bounced her brows, setting the bag on the rolling table in front of Thorne. “Straight up cake, no glaze.”
Thorne groaned as she looked at the bag. “Are you trying to load me up on carbs and sugars so I can be fat on top of ugly?”
Maggie glared at Thorne. “I know I didn’t just hear you correctly. Don’t make me beat your ass while you’re an invalid.”
Amy frowned and sighed, yanking the bag off of the table. “Fine, I’ll load up on this delicious bundle of sugary goodness and you can both kiss my ass.”
Maggie had told her Thorne was taking her injuries pretty bad, but Amy had no idea it was this bad. She had told her when the doctor came in to change the bandages, Thorne begged for a mirror. The doctor refused, until Thorne nearly broke his arm. She broke the mirror instead. She had a jagged scar from her forehead, down the left side of her face, splitting her left eyebrow, down her cheek, to her jawline. To top it off, she also had a scar along the base of her throat.
She wasn’t handling the disfigurement at all.
Amy couldn’t really blame her. She would probably act the same way. Thorne had a body to die for and a face to match it, and now her world was ruined, so why ruin her body and get fat while she was recovering?
“When are they going to let you go home?” Amy dug into the bag, plucking out a smooshed donut hole.
“When are you going to get rid of the guard dog at my door?”
Amy jerked her head back, taken by surprised at the venomous tone in Thorne’s reply. “Wow, grumpy much? Dalton is here because someone attacked you and Saber, Thorne. This isn’t punishment, it’s for your protection.”
Wild whiskey eyes flashed at Amy. “Protection? If it wasn’t for this stupid motorcycle bullshit, I wouldn’t need any protection. I love Saber, but because of him, I was thrown into your fucking drama. I didn’t ask for this. I can never model again!”
Amy and Maggie both winced at the outburst. She had forgot Thorne had done some cover modeling on the side, her dream was to be featured in Sports Illustrated as a swimsuit model. She even wanted to be on the cover of Playboy at one time. All of that was now gone.
“Just. Get. Out!” Thorne screamed at Amy and Maggie, jerking her hand up and pointing at the door. “Leave!”
Neither girl argued.
Once outside, they moved over to the couch to sit, opposite of Dalton, who had found a chair and a book to read.
“I’m sorry, Ames.” Maggie apologized. “I didn’t realize just how bad it was.”
“It’s expected, Maggie. I can’t imagine what she’s going through. It must be hell,” Amy shook her head. “I would probably be doing the same thing.”
“Amy?” Maggie took ahold of her hand, squeezing it tight. “Promise me something?”
Amy returned the squeeze, brows bunching together, unsure if she was going to like where this was about to head. “Depends on what I’m promising.”
She glanced to the side, looking to Dalton, then back to Amy. She leaned forward toward her, her voice low enough where only Amy could hear it. “If anything ever happens to me, promise you’ll take care of Thorne.”
CHAPTER 24
Clubhouse. 10 minutes ago. C U there.
Mace stared at the blurred message, trying to decipher exactly what it said. More important, who the fuck was it from? Pushing up from the bed, he wiped the sleep out of his eyes, then glanced at Amy.
She had come last night in a fury unlike anything he had seen from her. She didn’t know whether to cry or be pissed off. It took Mace over an hour to get her to tell him what the hell happened. She was upset over Thorne’s display of self-defamation, and the cryptic promise Maggie forced her to make. Mace ended up holding her until she fell asleep.
Thorne’s reaction was expected and Mace tried to explain that to Amy, but she heard none of it. Thorne’s hateful words had struck a chord inside Amy, and she felt it was all her fault Thorne was disfigured. He told her Demon was the root of all of this, not her. He was bat-shit crazy and didn’t give a shit about anyone else but him. It didn’t work. Instead, she cried herself to sleep in his arms.
Throwing his legs over the side of the bed, he looked down at the phone. The message was from Stone. Mace frowned and texted back that he’d be on his way in a few. He needed to shower and get a cup of coffee to wake his ass up.
He skipped shaving, leaving him rather rough looking, but it wasn’t like he was trying to win a popularity contest. Pouring coffee into a thermos mug, he picked up his cut and headed out to the garage. Setting the metal cup in the cup holder on the handlebars, he slipped on the cut and buttoned it up. Pulling out his bandanna, he combed his hair out of his face and tied the cloth off, fired up his bike and headed out.
Arriving at the clubhouse, he parked the bike and sat there for a minute. Everyone was already inside. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he sighed, hiked his leg over the seat, and walked toward the doors. Cancel that, not only was everyone inside, they were already in the Chapel Room. Turning off his phone, he placed it on the table and took his seat, before cracking open his coffee and taking a long sip.
Saber closed the door and reclaimed his seat next to Mace as Stone banged the gavel.
“I’m calling this meeting to order. We have a lot to cover today. I’m not going to cover the last meeting, we all know what happened. More things have come into light we need to discuss.” Stone leaned forward and laid his hands on the table, looking at each one of the brothers before he spoke. “Miguel Velasquez is now the president of Temer Gallo. We all know what that means. He’s going to try to come into the territory and take it over. When you have TGMC, you have drugs.”
There was a collective expel of breath, everyone understanding the drug issues. SOMC did not support drugs. With drugs came drama, drug use, lying, stealing and death. It was a bad scene to get into. At least with strip clubs and porn, they had legit money to cover up the gun running. And with the gun business, came honor among thieves. Yes, there were some douchebags out there, but ninety-five percent of the time, people pa
id and it was over with.
“Romeo and I will be going to Lompoc early in the morning. It’s in three days, and I don’t feel good about it. I want to make sure it’s secure for the delivery. Saber, you and Talon will take point; Mace, Axe, you two will take rear and make sure you’re not followed. We don’t need the TGMC trying to hijack the load. There’s no telling what Demon is capable of after his last escapade with Saber and Thorne.
“I want everyone carrying. I don’t want to see anyone getting hurt or taken by surprise. This shit is about to get real and I do not want any chances taken. Arrival time is noon. The deal goes down at twelve fifteen. Once the money is in hand, we boogie. They don’t need to test the merch, so we can scatter and meet back here.”
Mace drew in a deep breath, holding it for a few seconds, then slowly released it. This would be a very sticky situation. It was too close to the Air Force base and open enough to be exposed. “You’re too exposed there, Stone. You need to move it around to the warehouses and keep it locked down. It’s safer that way.”
Romeo nodded. “I agree. They have a series of warehouses and garages toward the base’s airfield, and it will give us more privacy and advantage points to make sure you’re left alone for the deal.”
Stone rubbed his hand over his goatee, slowly nodding. “We can do that. I agree, it needs to be private. I don’t want anyone to surprise us.”
Where Romeo was telling Stone to go, was going to make it easier for the ATF to take them down. Mace wasn’t going to let them know they made his job easier. That was just fine by him. His heart was heavy knowing that he wasn’t going to see Amy ever again. It wasn’t something he needed to think about right now. He was going to have to call Jones and tell him the exact location, now that he knew.
“Next order of business.” Stone paused, clearing his throat. He let out a deep breath and sniffed, “I’ll be retiring after the run.” He held up his hand while shaking his head. “Hush! Listen to me. I lost my wife, and I almost lost my daughter to this life. I’m too old for this shit. I just want to kick it at the ranch, and help my daughter breed her horses and keep running my cattle.