KIKO (MC Bear Mates Book 3)

by Becca Fanning

  “You fought for my honor, brother.”

  Justiss ducked his head in a single nod when Mars aimed the words his way. “Yes, Prez. I’d die for the MC’s honor.”

  Mars pursed his lips and turned, putting his back to the crowd as he crouched down next to Logann. He checked his pulse and must have felt nothing because he stood up again. His back still to the men, he declared, “A fool is dead.” As his words sank in, he turned around then stated, “No one else has to die. Not even Logann needed this end.”

  “Bullshit. Logann was fighting for our rights,” Moses, Logann’s crony, hollered, striding forward, fury radiating from him. “If we don’t suck your balls, we’re outsiders. Well, that’s bullshit. That poor bastard down there saw the way of it, and you let him be challenged to the death… And you said Jefferson was a monster.”

  Mars took the insults with a calm that stunned Kiko. The Prez folded his arms across his chest, switched his gaze between Logann and Moses, then to the crowd said, “I’m the monster, am I? I’m the one trying to spread dissent among our club? I’m not the one busting my balls, breaking into my honeymoon period with my mate, to try and find alternate sources of income for the MC?”

  “We don’t need alternate fucking sources of income,” Moses screamed. “What’s wrong with the old ones?”

  “Because of your buddy, Jefferson, we burned our bridges with the Martinez cartel. Their allies have it in for us. We’ve already lost tons of cargo, and our runs are getting more and more dangerous. I’m not making this shit up.” To Sharpy, deep in the crowd, Mars yelled, “Sharps, what happened last time you crossed into Mamba territory?”

  Sharpy elbowed his way through the dense crowd and said, “I was knocked off my bike. Hector was in the truck, but he saw me in time. Swerved into a U turn and went back the way we came. Ahms had to help me back home. Lost my fucking bike to the Mambas, but Hector got the merchandise back here. Just.”

  Mars held out a hand to stem the brother’s flow of words. “We’re at war with so many fucking South American gangs, I can’t count. Is war among us really what you want? Logann didn’t have to die. I didn’t want him to die, but getting the MC out of the shit it’s in has to happen in diverse ways. Those sources of income that were once open and free to us are fucked over because of Jefferson.”

  “If you’d honored our deal with the cartel, there wouldn’t be a fucking problem,” Moses snarled, but for the first time, the interest in the crowd seemed to take on another edge.

  Kiko stepped forward, dropping his hands where they’d been resting across his chest, letting them fall to his sides as he clenched them into fists. “My mate was part of the deal we didn’t honor. You wanted me to sell her on, Moses? Pass her around like she was a fucking pizza?”

  Low mumblings started among the men.

  “We didn’t know your mate would be in the shipment,” Moses bit off, but he started to sound uneasy when the mumblings grew louder.

  “That doesn’t make it fucking right. We transport drugs. We move guns. We do not move humans. We’re half beast, but we’re not bastard animals. It’s the humans who treat their people like shit, not us. You want to be as low as them? You want our rep to be as stained as the shitty South American gangs?”

  Kiko’s words soared through the crowd, and Sharpy hollered out, “I never wanted to traffic humans. We all know Jefferson would have iced our asses if we’d spoken out. What kind of fucking democracy is that? The man was a prick. It was like living with fucking Stalin. I’ve already lived through one Cold War. I don’t know about everyone else, but screw that. I ain’t doing that again.”

  Moses looked around, lines of tension etched into his face as he saw the men’s reactions to Sharpy’s address, but he stood his ground, refusing to back down. “Jefferson knew what was best for the MC. If you think fucking around with garages and shit is the way to save us, then you’re wrong.” With that, he elbowed his way back into the crowd, same as he’d left it.

  A few guys, brothers who must have had his back, followed him, and for future reference, Kiko made a mental note of their names.

  With his departure, the crowd started to die down, and Mars took advantage to say, “Brothers, bear with the Council. We’re working toward a future that will see you as fortunate as your leaders—mated. That’s our primary goal.”

  Sharpy ground out, “Are you being serious? How the hell can you promise that?”

  “I’m working with my mate to figure out a way to get you into contact with more human females.”

  Dev, the newbie who worked mostly behind the bar, yelled, “What about the MC? Is it really in the red like Logann’s been saying?”

  “Yeah. It is,” Kiko answered for Mars. “It has been since before Jefferson took over. Even before Martinez fucked up some of our dealings, we weren’t doing all that great. We were living off money from the good times, but we weren’t making up for it. We always needed to find other sources of income, and that’s what’s been going on. We’re trying to transition during difficult times. The last thing we, the Council, need is a mutiny on our fucking backs.”

  Mars nodded. “What Kiko said is true. We need you to be patient, even if you don’t think you like what we’re doing. We don’t know what’s best for you, but we can guess. You all want your mates. Let’s work toward a future where that seems to be a possibility rather than just wishful thinking.” While the men processed that, he continued, “As a thank you for his defense of me, and for ultimately protecting my mate, I grant Justiss a seat on my Council. This isn’t nepotism, just gratitude. You do good for the MC, you go up in the ranks. I can offer no sweeter deal than that, do you hear me?”

  Stunned silence followed the announcement, but Kiko didn’t wait around to see what happened next. He nodded at Mars, then as Moses had, shouldered his way back to the clubhouse. As he passed Dev, he murmured, “Sort out a resting place for Logann.”

  Dev frowned. “You want him to go with Jefferson and the other exiles?”

  Kiko grimaced but nodded. “You’d best put him there.”

  No one liked the idea of dumping a body for carrion to consume the remains. It was dangerous, what with the humans getting so fucking good at the magic known as forensic science, but it was tradition. And tradition always won the day.

  Enemies of the MC found no peace in death.

  “Shall I get him now? Or wait until the crowd’s gone?”

  Kiko peered around. “Do it now. Get the body out before there’s a stampede. Do you need help?” he asked as an afterthought.

  Dev grunted. “I might be a cub in years, but I can bench press a Buick. Anyway, Logann’s a skinny ass.” He cleared his throat. “Was a skinny ass.”

  “I’ll leave him to you then.”

  Before Dev could give him a snotty reply—it was a job handed to the noobs because no other brother wanted to handle such a mess—Kiko headed through the doors into the rec room. He wanted a Scotch, but he didn’t head toward the bar for one. Instead, he rushed down into the heart of the MC, up the stairs, and toward his bedroom.

  He didn’t know where Mischa was, but he had a sudden urge to see her. He needed the sweetness of her presence to clear away thoughts of what had just happened in the yard.

  It was always hard seeing a brother taken down, even if it was a brother he didn’t like. Life was too precious to waste, but Logann had had it coming. His death would help prevent a war. But Kiko was under no illusions. Today had been phase one.

  A chunk of the brothers would have liked what Mars had to say, and the idea of finding their mates would have swayed them, but Jefferson’s poisonous trio still had two remaining members. Kiko highly doubted the Council’s plan to obliterate them all wouldn’t need to come to fruition, which meant more deaths, more suffering.

  He shuddered. Kiko hated feeling weak, but after last night, his nightmares had fucked with him.

  When he made it into his room, he was disappointed to see he was alone. Mischa must have been
somewhere with Annette. He guessed he was pleased about that. The last thing he’d wanted her to see was two men fighting to the death. Jesus, just the thought made him pale.

  Heading for the shower, desperately needing to wash off the dirty dealings of the past hour, he stripped off, dumping his clothes in the hamper before heading under the spray. When the cold blast hit him, he barely shuddered, acclimating slowly to the heat as it hit him square in the face. Grabbing the soap, he washed off even though he was clean and let the water cleanse him of the sins he hadn’t committed but might as well have done.

  When he shut off the water, he heard noises in the bedroom. Relieved that Mischa was back and he wouldn’t be left to his thoughts, he quickly toweled off and wrapped the length of the towel about his hips.

  Opening the door, he peered out and saw Mischa setting out some clothes for him. He watched as she shook out some jeans and a thick cable knit sweater.

  “What are you doing?” he asked, his voice a low rumble.

  She turned to him, eyebrow cocked. “What does it look like I’m doing?”

  “Laying out clothes.”

  “Then why did you ask?”

  He rolled his eyes at her. She could be such a smart ass. What had happened to his little angel? He smirked as he realized she’d been Americanized—if that was even a thing. “Where were you today?”

  What he didn’t ask was, did you see Logann being beaten to death?

  “Out,” she told him, a tad vaguely. “Annette and I just got back in.”

  He let out a shuddery breath that was loaded with relief. “Good.”

  “Why? What’s going on? It’s not like you to be back here so early.”

  “Logann’s dead,” he told her, his voice remarkably bland. She’d never know how hard it was for him to maintain that tone.

  She blinked at him. “Justiss?”

  He nodded.

  “At least the ring leader’s dead,” she murmured.

  He gave her another nod.

  “Is Justiss on the Council now?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Do you think Graver and Harvey will have to fight?”

  “Mars tried to sway the men with what you and Annette are trying to do, find them mates. But I don’t think that will work. Well, it will to an extent. Of course, they want their mates, but guys like Moses and the rest, they want power. They’re old. They want their mates, sure, and won’t put their chances in jeopardy, but still, it’s all about the power. They’ll come back for more. Graver and Harvey will have their day. Unfortunately.”

  “What’s wrong, Kiko?” She’d been studying him as he spoke. He’d felt her eyes on him as he walked over to the bed, stripped off the towel and began to dress.

  “Why do you think something’s wrong? Everything’s going to plan.”

  “Yeah, it sounds like that. But you look like your puppy’s been kicked, and you were just naked around me, and you didn’t have an erection.” When he stayed silent, lips pursed tightly together as he jumped into his jeans, she murmured, “Is this about last night?”

  He froze then carefully asked, “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, the nightmare.”

  “I’m sorry if I woke you up.”

  “Stop being stubborn, Kiko. Hell, I’m trying to help here!”

  Her hissed words had him flinching, and the sight of Logann turning limp in Justiss’s arms flashed before his eyes. She sucked in a sharp breath, staggered back until her knees hit the foot of the bed. He watched as she fell back onto the mattress and realized she’d seen that image in his head.

  He closed his eyes, hating himself for failing to protect her from that mental picture that no one needed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want you to see that.”

  She let out a shaky breath. “Don’t worry about it, Kiko. I was bound to see it at some point. There’s a whole group of men here who just saw that happen. It’s going to be on their minds for a few days.”

  “I wish I could protect you from that, Mischa,” he told her, turning back to her and taking a seat at her side. He lifted his arm and curled it about her shoulders.

  “You can’t always protect me from everything, Kiko. This past month has shown me that and has helped me come to terms with it.” She nuzzled her temple against his jaw. “I’m sorry you had to see that too.”

  He shrugged. “It’s par for the course for a challenge.”

  “No. Well, maybe it is. But I mean, it’s worse for you, isn’t it? They did that to you, didn’t they? When they tested you?”

  He stiffened then made a concerted effort to relax. “It was the forties’ version of waterboarding, I guess.”

  “I’m sorry you had to go through that, Kiko. I wish I could…”

  “if wishes were horses, Mischa. Look, it’s way in the past.”

  “You told me that the past doesn’t matter unless it’s affecting the present. Well, it pretty much looks like it’s affecting you now, so… you know.”

  He shook his head. “It’s only because of the nightmare last night. Just being with you now is helping me calm down.”

  “I’m glad,” she told him, her smile so sweet that it made his heart flutter.

  He pressed his forehead to hers, loving the connection as their breaths mingled. It was innocent, pure, and that was what he loved about her. She brought a purity to his world that had been missing for so long.

  “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to talk about that time, Mischa. I’m sorry,” he told her, letting the words fall even though it came at the risk of her pulling away.

  “I don’t think I want to hear them, Kiko.” She must have felt his surprise because she rested her hands on his knees and squeezed them both simultaneously. “Do you want to hear about what happened to me?”

  He shuddered. “No.”

  “The details don’t count. We know what happened to one another, but more importantly, we know we’re both survivors. I thought the details mattered, but like with everything else, you’ve opened my eyes to the fact I don’t need to know the minutiae to understand a situation.”

  He let his lips caress hers. “You’re my survivor, Mischa.”

  She smiled. “And you’re mine.”

  “I think I loved you the instant I saw you. Do you know that?” he whispered. “When you were standing in that fucking pen, squinting at the sunlight, half terrified that we were with the cartel and we were transporting you…” He grunted. “It damn near broke my heart to see you so scared. I knew what you were to me almost immediately, but I was faced with what you were experiencing, even at that very moment. You’d never been so close to me but had never felt so fucking far away.” He reached for one of her hands, maneuvered his fingers against hers. “That was almost as bad as not knowing where you were.”

  “I can believe it. But look at us now. We’re mated. That’s all ancient history.” She smiled. “I’m the woman I was always supposed to be because of you, Kiko.”

  He snorted. “I’ve created a monster. You’ve gone all American on me, stubborn and brash.” He let out a chuckle. “I love it. I love you.”

  She sighed. “You know I feel the same way, don’t you?”

  “I do.” He sighed. “And I also know it will take you an inordinately hellish amount of time to admit it.”