by Grey, Blair
Marcus laughed and shook his head. “Not what I was going to say at all,” he said. “A beautiful woman with brains is a rare breed.”
“You probably scare them all away,” I muttered. “They don’t want anything to do with a prick like you.”
“I like that you speak your mind,” Marcus said, and I wondered if he was in so much pain that he was starting to get loopy. If I wasn’t mistaken, he had just complimented me twice in a row, and we were rapidly starting to leave the territory of arrogant flirting.
“What I meant,” Marcus continued, flexing his fingers as I finished off the bandage, “is, how did you decide you wanted to be a nurse? Was it what your parents wanted for you or something?”
“No,” I said shortly. If Dad had wanted me to be a nurse, I probably wouldn’t be here right now. I would have done anything else, just to spite him. I shrugged. “I wanted to be a nurse ever since I was a kid,” I told the man. “I wanted to help people.”
“Well, that’s very noble of you,” Marcus said, but he looked thoughtful. Then, he grinned cheekily. “I guess that’s why you’re trying to give me life advice on how to stay out of trouble, isn’t it?” he asked. “Do I have to pay for that, like if you were my shrink?”
I rolled my eyes again. “No, the advice comes free.” I knew I should be leaving now that he was all bandaged up. I was sure there were other patients to attend to. And it wasn’t like I was enjoying this or anything. But for some reason, I wasn’t ready to leave just yet. I folded my arms across my chest. “You seem like a smart guy,” I finally said. “I’d hate to see you show up in the morgue because you did something stupid.”
“That’s sweet of you to care, darling,” Marcus said, getting to his feet. He eyed the remains of his shirt and then quickly tore both sleeves off before pulling the now-muscle tank over his head. Somehow, even though I knew the shirt was never intended to be worn that way, I couldn’t help thinking that he definitely pulled it off.
At least until you got to the noticeable white bandages covering most of his right forearm.
“It’s not that I care about you,” I said, but even as I said it, it felt like a lie. I paused. “Okay, I care about everyone who comes through those doors,” I finally told him. “You’re not special.”
“Wouldn’t have imagined it,” Marcus said, winking at me. “I should get out of your hair, though, so you can go help all those other not-special people coming in here. But I’m sure I’ll see you again.”
I shook my head. “I hope not,” I told him.
Marcus laughed. “Wow, I’m sorry my visit was that terrible for you,” he said, putting a hand over his heart as though he was wounded.
I felt a blush spread across my face. “I didn’t mean it that way,” I protested, even though I wasn’t sure why I cared what he thought. “I just meant, if I see you again, in this setting, it’s because some… cat has attacked you again. I’d rather not see you in here again.”
Marcus gave me a mocking salute. “I’ll try my best to stay out of trouble, like a good Boy Scout,” he said.
I couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up. “Oh, get out of here,” I said. “And here, a prescription for painkillers. You don’t really deserve them since I’m sure this was all your fault, but what the hell.”
Marcus grinned at me, holding up the carefully written form up in the air and then deliberately tearing it in two, dropping the pieces in the wastebasket as he sauntered toward the door. “Don’t need any of that, sweetheart, but thanks for thinking of me,” he said, followed by another mock-serious quip, “I’ll get along just fine, thinking about all my mistakes I made this evening.”
I giggled again, and a smile, a real smile, broke out across his face like he was pleased with himself for making me laugh like that. Then, he turned and walked out the front door.
I finished filling out his paperwork so that I could file it. I was tempted, again, to look at his phone number. To copy it down, to stick it in my pocket. I didn’t have to call him. It would just be worth it to know that I could if I wanted to.
But I held myself back. Rachel, or even some of the other nurses that worked there at the hospital, probably would have done it. But that didn’t make it right. It wouldn’t have been professional, even if he had hinted at wanting to see me again.
I forced myself to file his paperwork away and then focus on the next round of incoming patients. There was plenty for me to do that night, and the last thing I needed was to have my head in the clouds over some sexy biker dude with a knife wound.
Even if he did have killer eyes and an interesting personality.
7
Marcus
Monday
Even though it was absolutely blistering hot outside on Monday, I wore long sleeves to the clubhouse for our weekly Red Eyes meeting. The last thing I needed was for anyone to see the bandages and ask what had happened. I didn’t need even more drama related to the Unknowns.
Besides, the cut wasn’t that bad. Or rather, it was bad, but I’d definitely had worse. I had sort of lied to that pretty nurse, Leila, when I had said that I wouldn’t need painkillers. But I’d seen something in her eyes when I’d torn up the prescription, and I’d known that I had played it right. She thought I was tough, and she thought that was sexy.
Really, I just had better ways of getting my hands on quality drugs. The perks of being part of the most powerful MC in New Mexico. We didn’t do a lot of dealings in drugs—Ray had never been interested in that sort of thing—but I knew where to go when I needed something.
“Yo, where the hell were you on Friday night?” Braxton asked, dropping into a seat next to me. “I thought we were all going to go get drinks together.”
“Slipped my mind,” I lied. It obviously hadn’t, but I’d needed to go home and get changed after getting bandaged up at the hospital, and then while I was in the shower, I’d started thinking about that nurse again. So I’d banged one out, just a quickie and not overly satisfying, but it was enough. And by then my arm was really starting to kill me, so I’d downed a couple painkillers, decided I was going nowhere that night, and curled up on the couch.
“Slipped your mind,” Braxton said, and he didn’t sound entirely convinced.
I shrugged. “Fine, I didn’t feel like it, okay?”
“Did you have a girl over?” Grant asked from Braxton’s far side, leaning forward so that he could leer at me.
“Bingo,” I said. It wasn’t the truth either, but hey, I’d met Leila that night, and I’d whacked off thinking about her, so that was close enough in my mind.
Fortunately, I didn’t have to face further inquiry. Ray strode into the room, and everyone fell silent, just like usual. “Hope everyone’s doing well,” he said, nodding around at us. “The club is doing really well at the moment in case anyone was wondering. It seems that even with the Unknowns trying to move in on our territory, and even with their continued threats, we seem to be back on track.”
“Does that mean you’re paying Willy back?” Braxton joked. Will was absent from this meeting, as he had been from a number of others lately due to his class schedule. If I didn’t know better, I’d say that he had planned his schedule that way on purpose, and I was surprised that Ray allowed it. But then again, Ray owed Will a favor for bailing out the club.
Besides, Ray was probably more than happy that his daughter’s husband was trying to stay clean and keep his nose out of trouble. And he would be even more happy that the man had decided to go back to school so that he could try to provide a good life for Belle and their eventual family.
Still, it was strange not having Will there at all of our club meetings. He had always been my best friend in the MC, and with him gone, I was left fielding Braxton’s snarkiness on my own.
Or maybe not fully on my own. Ray rolled his eyes. “I don’t think that’s any of your business,” he said. He cleared his throat. “Now, along with things going well, there’s the matter of the new sheriff.”
&nbs
p; “Did you manage to get him on our side?” Cameron asked.
“Not just yet,” Ray said. “But I have finally set up a meeting with him. Today.” He turned toward me. “Marcus, I want you there with me.”
“Of course,” I said immediately. It wasn’t going to come to blows with the sheriff, obviously. Ray wouldn’t even really want me to intimidate the man, except for maybe as a silent presence at his back. My role was more to be a second set of eyes on the situation. To see the things that Ray might have missed.
I appreciated the honor of being chosen to go with him. Besides, I was pretty curious about this new sheriff, anyway. Was he really going to be able to clean up Las Cruces like he seemed to think he could?
I had my doubts when we walked into the man’s office that afternoon. Sheriff Bill Michaels just didn’t look like the kind of guy who would really pose much threat to Red Eyes, not all duffed up in that fancy suit of his. I could tell he wasn’t entirely accustomed to this office, but at the same time, he looked like a pompous ass. Like he was taking to his new position quite well.
Ray and I shook hands with him, and I was careful to hide my sneer. “Sheriff Michaels, I appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule to meet with the two of us,” Ray said, his diplomat’s voice in full play. “My buddy Marcus and I are business owners here in Las Cruces, and we just really wanted to meet with you.”
The sheriff stared at the two of us for a long moment and then scoffed. “Bullshit,” he said succinctly. “I know exactly who you are, Ray Thompson. And I know who you are as well, Marcus Pine.” He narrowed his eyes at both of us. “Quite frankly, I have no interest in talking to the two of you.”
Ray widened his eyes innocently. “I’m sure your schedule must be very busy since you’re so new to the office,” he said. It was a veiled insult to how new Bill was at politics in general. I wondered if the other man picked up on that or not.
Bill leaned forward, putting both his hands flat on his desk. “When I ran for this office, I promised the people that we were going to clean things up around here,” he said. “Some people call me a hard nose. And you know what? They’re right. I’m a stickler for the rules. I’m all about sticking up for the little person, the local business owners. The people that you cheat out of hard-earned money every month.”
Ray was silent, and I could practically see the gears turning in his head. Bill seemed to have no interest in even listening to us, and I tried to figure out why he had even agreed to this meeting. There had to be some sort of motive behind it.
“I’m going to bring your MC to the ground,” the sheriff hissed. He paused. “That is, if the Unknowns don’t beat me to it.”
There it was: our reason. I started to stand, already ready for a fight. What a no-good, lying scumbag. He’d been elected promising that he would clean up the city, and what he really meant was that he was going to get rid of us, the Red Eyes. But he was a member of the Unknowns, I was sure of it. He meant to clean us out, under the guise of strict, lawful behavior, so that he could leave space for the Unknowns to walk right in.
Before I could call the two-timing fucker on it, though, Ray put a hand on my shoulder, holding me in my seat. “Well, we’ll just have to let time tell,” he said coolly. “See how good of a sheriff you really are.”
Nothing to give away any sort of emotion, even though he must be just as pissed as I was. There was a stare-off for a moment, there in the office, before Ray got to his feet. “Again, Sheriff, thanks for taking the time to meet with us. Hope you have a nice day.”
With that, he strode out of there. I gave Bill one last venomous look, debating jumping the guy on my own now that Ray was out of the office, but if there was one thing that was sure to bring the feds down on our heads, it was murdering the new local sheriff. I stalked out after Ray.
As soon as I hit the pavement, I angrily rolled my sleeves up. It was so damned hot, and my blood was raging for a fight, but the look in Ray’s eyes stopped me.
“What the hell happened to your arm?”
I groaned inwardly. Of course there had been a reason I had worn long sleeves today. My boiling blood had distracted me, though. I shrugged, glancing away. “I’m diverting the Unknowns’ attention away from Red Eyes,” I said. It was true. “I’m getting them to focus on me instead. One person at a time.”
Ray stared at me for a long moment. “That’s the stupidest plan that I’ve ever heard,” he said. “Now, what the hell happened?”
“I swung by their place on Friday night,” I admitted. “Wreaked a little havoc. Not much, not like anything they’ve done. Just put one of their guys out cold on the doorstep to their hideout.”
Ray scowled. “And what, got yourself cut up in the process?”
“Just a scratch,” I said carelessly. “Besides, I think it’s a good idea. The more wound up I can get them, the more likely they’re gonna do something stupid, to make some mistake. And then as a group, we can go after them.”
Ray shook his head and turned around, jerking his head for me to follow him. “Marcus, you’ve been with me for a long time, but if you ever hide anything from me again, or if you ever go against my words, I swear to god that I’ll deal with you myself.”
I thought about protesting about how I didn’t need the twins with me, how their presence would have been unnecessary and how they would have distracted from what I wanted to do the other night. I didn’t want the Unknowns to think that all of Red Eyes was after them. I wanted them to fixate on me. I wanted them to circle like sharks so that we could pick them off one by one.
I didn’t need to pull Braxton and Landon into this with me.
But I knew Ray was already pissed enough, and I was lucky he wasn’t already making vows to deal with me. It was a sign of how much he trusted me, and the last thing I needed was to make him rethink that trust by complaining like a child about how unfair it was that Ray wanted the twins to come along and babysit me.
Especially since I knew he didn’t mean it that way at all. He was just trying to look out for me. He would do the same for any other member of the club. It was just Ray’s way of dealing with things.
So I nodded at him. “I’ll keep you informed of my plans in future,” I promised him. “I won’t give you a reason to come after me.”
“Good,” Ray growled, and even though I could tell he was still pretty peeved, he didn’t sound like he wanted to take my head off, or like he wanted to continue this discussion any further. I had to count that as a win.
8
Leila
Tuesday
I woke up to the doorbell ringing on Tuesday morning, and I groaned, looking over at the clock. Probably someone delivering a package or something like that. The worst thing about having an irregular schedule like mine was that the rest of the world just expected you to be on the same time schedule as them, awake when they were and asleep when they were. Now, I had finally fallen into my first really good sleep in a while, and I was getting woken up to sign for some stupid package that I didn’t even remember ordering.
Or worse, it’ll be someone wanting to do some idiotic poll, I thought as I stumbled toward the door. I didn’t bother wondering what my hair or my sleep-rumpled clothes looked like.
But it was neither package deliverer nor pollster at the door. Instead, it was Rachel and Gavin.
“What’s up?” I asked, confused. Had we made some sort of plans I had forgotten about? But it was eight-thirty in the morning. I wouldn’t have made plans for that early, especially not on a day when I wasn’t working.
“Did we wake you up?” Rachel asked, looking apologetic. “God, I’m sorry. I knew I should have called first. Or just taken him into the hospital to see whoever was on duty. But he wanted to see his Auntie Leila, and he was feeling so miserable that I gave in.”
I stepped back to let them in, shutting the door and then kneeling down next to Gavin. I knew I should assure Rachel that it was no problem, that she wasn’t bothering me, but I was alr
eady entering into crisis mode. If it was serious enough that she was considering taking him into the hospital, I had to know what was wrong with him.
He wasn’t my kid, but he still made me worried every time even the smallest sickness or injury happened to him.
“You’re feeling yucky this morning, buddy?” I asked Gavin.
He nodded his head, clinging to his mom’s hand and leaning into her leg. He was nowhere near his usually buoyant self, and I felt another stab of worry go through me.
“Can you tell me where you’re feeling yucky?” I asked.
“Just everywhere,” Gavin said, his lower lip trembling.
“Okay,” I soothed. “Shh. Is it your tummy? Is your tummy feeling yucky, like you might be sick?”
Gavin paused and then shook his head. No, it wasn’t that. He sniffled.
“Your nose?” I asked. “Are you having the sneezes and the sniffles?”
At that, Gavin nodded. Now we were getting somewhere.
“He’s running a temperature, I think,” Rachel piped up. Then she winced. “I mean, I don’t know for sure. I couldn’t find the thermometer.”
“I’ve got one, no problem,” I said, putting on a big smile all for Gavin’s sake. “Rach, why don’t you go into the kitchen? There’s some apple juice in the fridge, and I remember this little munchkin loving his apple juice. Isn’t that right, Gavin?” He nodded. “And Gavin, you go lie down on the couch, okay? Auntie Leila is just going to go get the thermometer. The good one, though. The one for your ear, not the one that goes under your tongue.”
“Okay,” Gavin whispered. His voice sounded off, and I bet he had a sore throat. Another piece of the puzzle.
Sure enough, he was running just the tiniest bit of a fever when I checked him, and between that, the sniffles, and the sore throat, it was easy enough to diagnose him.