Fighting Mac (Charon MC)

by Khloe Wren

  “Hurry back.”

  He gave my ass a tap when I turned to go. I rolled my eyes at him over my shoulder, before I jogged up the stairs. When I got to the room, I didn’t get changed right away. I went and sat on the edge of the bed, before flopping back to stare up at the ceiling. Mac hadn’t spoken another word about my dad, the Iron Hammers, or the traitors within this club since we left Marie’s parking lot. Didn’t change the fact it’s pretty much all I’d thought about since then. Well, except for when Mac was sparing with Taz. No red-blooded woman was going to be able to ignore those two hot, inked-up men shirtless, sweaty and knocking each other around the ring.

  But I didn’t have the luxury of focusing on that right now. I needed to work out a way to find out what my father had been doing before his death, and hopefully that would lead us to wherever Sledge was hiding out. I also needed to figure out where I stood with the cops. Because to sort out anything to do with my dad, I was going to have to visit my place in Galveston and go through the boxes from my dad’s office that I really should have gone through before now, but had always found a reason to put off. I’d even been too much of a coward to box it all up. I’d gotten a moving company to pack up the whole house and all the boxes were cluttering up my small place.

  I had gone through a lot of the boxes over the past three years. I’d barely been able to move around my apartment with them all in there to start with, so it was kind of a necessity. But I hadn’t touched any of the ones from their bedroom or his office. Looked like I was going to have to suck it up and go through them now.

  The last thing I needed when I did go down to get them was to be picked up by the police and put in lock-up. I wasn’t sure exactly what happened the morning I was rescued, whether the Iron Hammers got wiped out completely or if there were still enough of them left that wanted to come after me. Because Mac had been right earlier–clearly Sledge was after me for a more personal reason than what I’d said after the shooting, and now I remembered him mentioning my dad, it seemed that was a good place to start looking.

  A soft knock on the door had me pulling myself up from the bed and going over to it.

  “Who is it?”

  I called out before I opened it. Saturday night was too fresh in my mind for me to blindly trust the unknown person on the other side of Mac’s door.

  “It’s Silk. On my own. Let me in?”

  I flicked the lock and opened up the door. “Hey.”

  Silk came at me, forcing me back into the room as she wrapped me in a hug.

  “I am so fucking sorry, Zara!”

  Feeling totally out of my element, I patted the woman on the back. “It wasn’t your fault, Silk. Any more than it was Mac’s.”

  She pulled back, and holding my shoulders, ran her gaze over me from head to foot. Between working out and showering at the gym, my make-up was non-existent, so Silk could see all the bruising on my face. And since she hadn’t been around yesterday, this was the first time she was seeing it.

  “Damn, they did a number on you, huh? How are you feeling, really?”

  I pulled free of her grip and headed to my suitcase. “I’ll be fine. I was only knocked around a little. It looks worse than it feels. You here for the party?”

  “I’m here because I had to work all day yesterday so I couldn’t make it over to check on you, and I’m worried about you. I did not come here to watch Jake–sorry, Bash–getting groped by whores all night long.”

  I grinned at that.

  “Gotta see the funny side to it, though. They name the guy Bash because he’s bashful, and he celebrates by screwing whores all night. Not real bashful behavior.”

  Silk barked out a laugh. “I did wonder how they came up with Bash. Eagle wouldn’t tell me. Bastard.”

  “I doubt Jake will want people to know the why. It’s kind of Mac’s fault. He was teasing the kid when Bulldog came in and overheard. It all snowballed from there.”

  I started pawing through my clothes. Where the hell were my jeans?

  “That’d be right. Sounds like my uncle. What are you looking for?”

  “Something to wear downstairs. Preferably jeans.”

  I finally located them and tossed them onto the bed as Silk laughed. “Make the most of wearing them. If Mac’s anything like Eagle, he’ll keep at you until all you wear is short skirts.”

  With a raised brow, I looked over at Silk, who was wearing jeans and didn’t look like a short skirt kinda girl.

  “Oh, while I’m pregnant I’m wearing jeans. That man doesn’t get to throw me up against walls to fuck me when I puke with any sudden movement. And he’s learned already not to argue with a pregnant woman. This gig does have a few perks.”

  “I’m struggling to see you in a skirt at all, to be honest. You don’t seem like that kinda woman.”

  She smirked at me. “Yeah, I wasn’t. And I don’t wear girly-girl looking shit. My skirts are all leather or dark denim. The only flowers on me are my tatts, thank you very much. Speaking of which, you don’t have any ink?”

  “Ah, no. I don’t. Why?”

  “I’m a tattooist. I own Silky Ink here in town. You should come in some time, let me color you up a bit.”

  I spun to look at her, as my jaw dropped open a little. I wasn’t really sure how to respond. I’d never even considered getting a tattoo before. Never had the spare cash for one, either.

  “Don’t look so shocked, doll. Think it over. I’ll take real good care of you. If you decide you don’t want any, that’s cool. I’m not going to force you, or anything. Just wanted to put the offer out there.” She smirked as she came over to my side. “That, and I love doing people’s first tattoos. Nothing quite like watching someone get their first taste of ink.” She reached past me and grabbed a shirt out of my bag. “Here, wear this one with your jeans, then we’ll head down.”

  I took the shirt and went to grab my jeans. “Not sure I want to go down there if there’s gonna be an orgy going on in the main room.”

  Silk laughed again. “Bash’ll be in the back room by now. We’ll sit at the bar and take bets on whether Eagle or Mac will be the first one to kick Taz’s ass for flirting with us. It’ll be fun.”

  With a smile I headed to the bathroom. “That man is a shameless tease.”

  “That, he is. Can’t wait for him to meet a woman strong enough to wrangle him into line. Gonna be a hell of a good show.”

  I changed quickly, unable to imagine Taz settling down with just one woman. Too much of a flirt. And manwhore, if what I’d heard from the others was to be believed.

  We were half way down the stairs when Silk stopped with a gasp.

  “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

  I was nearly panicking that something was wrong with her baby when I saw the wide grin spread over her face. “A Playboy bunny.”

  I frowned at her as I tried to figure out what the fuck she was on about. “What?”

  “For your tattoo, you should totally get a sexy little Playboy bunny. Oh, you totally should get it on your ass, or maybe just inside of your hip bone. That would look sexy as fuck.”

  I shook my head and kept moving. “That’s not why Mac calls me bunny, and no way am I getting a slutty little rabbit inked on me. Dream on, Silk.”

  “Girl, you’re no fun. Mac would totally dig it, even if it isn’t the reason behind you being his bunny.”

  I gritted my teeth as we entered the main room. I was going to throttle Mac over that damn name. “Do all the old ladies really think that’s why he calls me bunny?”

  Silk was laughing when we got to the bar. “Probably. I mean you’re a knockout. Clearly the man likes what he sees, so why wouldn’t he call you his pinup girl?”

  “Pinup girl sounds so much better than fucking Playboy bunny.”

  The prospect behind the bar was obviously trying really hard to not laugh as he handed Silk a bottle of water and set a soda down for me. Taz didn’t bother trying to hide his amusement. Damn man came to stand between us and w
rapped an arm around us both as he chuckled.

  “Ladies, after that comment, I really want to know what you two are talking about.”

  A second later Taz was gone and Mac was wrapping an arm around me. A glance over to the side showed Eagle had done the same to Silk.

  “Taz, you have got to fucking quit messing with our old ladies.”

  The man didn’t seem to be affected by Mac’s dark tone as he laughed and moved away.

  “You know he only does it because it sets you both off so easily, right?”

  I had to agree with Silk. But the way both our men growled, I didn’t think it a good idea to vocalize the opinion.

  CHAPTER 18

  Mac

  The closer we got to Galveston, the more anxious Zara became. I had her in the van with me, while Arrow, Nitro and Taz rode alongside us, as we headed to her place.

  “You okay, bunny?”

  She gave me a small smile before I turned my attention back to the road.

  “Yeah, just nervous. I’ve got no idea what we’ll find. I hope the Iron Hammers haven’t destroyed it.”

  “I doubt it. More likely they had someone watching for your return. They were after you, not anything you owned.”

  At least, I hoped that was the case. She was looking pale at the mere suggestion her things might be gone.

  “I wonder if Gemma will be home. Although, even if she is, she probably won’t come out with all you bikers around.”

  “She’s your neighbor, right?”

  “Yeah, the one who told me to come to Bridgewater.”

  I grinned at her. “Well, I’ll have to make sure to thank her for sending you my way.”

  She chuckled quietly at my comment but soon grew serious again when we pulled up into her driveway. I hopped out and went around to help her down from the high seat.

  “Where’s your key? I want you to stay here, while I go check the interior.”

  With a shaky nod she handed her keys over and, unable to resist, I leaned down to give her a quick kiss. It had been four days since she’d been taken and all the bruises were still fading. She’d done her best to cover up the ones on her jaw with makeup, and had been pretty successful. But I knew what was underneath, and it made my gut roil with anger.

  When I turned from her, I saw that Nitro had taken his place at the end of her driveway, while Arrow was standing about two feet from us and Taz was already at the front door waiting for me. I forced myself to leave Zara to go check her house. Arrow would keep her safe from anything that came at her while we searched the interior.

  I slid the key into the lock and stood to the side of the door, with a gun in my free hand, as I pushed it open. When nothing jumped out at us, or shot as us, I entered with Taz on my six. We both had our weapons raised, and using our Marine training, went through the entire place to check for anyone hiding. It didn’t take long as the place was small. Only two bedrooms, one bathroom and an open plan living area that included the kitchen.

  “All clear. Let’s get Zara inside.”

  I didn’t like her standing out there in the open, even if we did have two men on her. I strode outside and motioned for them to come in. Arrow came in with Zara, while Nitro stayed on guard duty outside. The man was our sergeant in arms and bloody good at his job. I knew he would catch anything that might happen out there, while we sorted out what Zara wanted to take from inside.

  Zara blew out a breath when she stepped into her living area. “Everything looks the same.”

  The relief on her face was enough to make me smile. Also made me grateful the fuckers hadn’t broken in and messed up her place.

  “The faster we load up and move out, the better. What did you want to take?”

  She stopped looking around the space and focused on me as I’d spoken.

  “The boxes from my parents’ house are all in the second bedroom. I guess any box that has office written on it needs to come. If you guys don’t mind, I might go pack a bag or two of stuff from my bedroom.”

  I pulled her against me for a hug, like we’d refuse her that?

  “Go pack up your bedroom, babe. We’ll start loading up the boxes.”

  Unable to resist, I took her mouth for a minute or two, not pulling back until Taz started snickering.

  “Thought you wanted to hurry, Mac? Or would you like Arrow and me to go outside while you get busy with your bunny?”

  Zara’s cheeks pinkened, and with a muttered curse she bolted for her bedroom, shutting the door behind her. Hard.

  Taz and Arrow were both laughing openly now and when I growled at them to shut the fuck up, they just laughed louder. Bastards. I turned away from them so they couldn’t see my grin as I led them to the other bedroom.

  “C’mon, you two clowns. Let’s get these loaded up.”

  The boxes were clearly marked, as you’d expect, since a professional moving company packed the things.

  “Whoa. That’s a lot of boxes.”

  “Yeah, after her folks were killed she had all their stuff boxed up. Understandably, she couldn’t bring herself to face it all. Let’s start with the office boxes, then if we have room, we’ll take the others too. Save us from coming back down if she doesn’t find anything in the office ones.”

  Arrow nodded as he grabbed the first box. “Fair enough. Who’s going to help her go through it all now? Because if she does this shit on her own, it’s gonna take her fucking months.”

  “Silk offered, as did Marie. But with their work hours, it’ll come down mostly to me and Zara, I guess. She’s hesitant to trust any of the other women. Which, after Em, I can understand.”

  I was incredibly grateful Chip was happy running the gym on his own, and Taz had stepped in to do the classes for me. That was one of the great things about the Charon MC, we all had each other’s backs.

  “That was a clusterfuck none of us saw coming. Not sure how long it’ll be before Donna comes back to the clubhouse. Keys said she’s refusing. Now they know for certain that Em led your girl out of there to be taken, she’s feeling guilty over it.”

  I shook my head as I followed him out with a box. “That’s a load of shit. Em was an adult and made her own choices. Not Donna’s fault.”

  Nitro opened the back of the van and Arrow put his box in before turning to me. “Seems to me half the damn club is taking blame for what went down Saturday night, when it wasn’t the fault of any of you.”

  I winced as I put my own box down. “Yeah, well, it’s hard to not feel at least a little guilty when your woman gets fucking snatched from the very place you promised her was safe.”

  Arrow shook his head at me as Taz put his box into the van. “Let it go, brother. Nothing good will come from you beating yourself up over it.”

  I headed back inside. “Yeah, I know. Now, quit nagging me and let’s get moving.”

  I really didn’t want to have Arrow bitching in my ear all day over shit I didn’t want to think about.

  With the three of us working, we had the van all loaded up in no time. I went in search of Zara as the others waited out the front.

  “Zara?”

  I pushed the door open and found her standing next to the bed, staring at a full suitcase. I walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her middle, pulling her back against me as a pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

  “You ready to head out? We’ve got all the boxes loaded up.”

  “Ah, yeah, sure. Sorry I took so long. I should have been helping you guys.”

  I turned her so I could see her face, frowning at the tears in her eyes. “Bunny, you have four strong men here with you, there is no reason you should have to lift anything. What’s wrong?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. Just feeling a little adrift I guess. This place, isn’t home for me anymore. But your room at the clubhouse doesn’t feel like home either.”

  Before she could go any further, I silenced her with a gentle kiss.

  “I was thinking yesterday that I really should lo
ok into buying a house. I was only living at the clubhouse because it was convenient. Generally speaking, only prospects actually live there. We all sleep there on occasion, but most don’t live there full-time.” I cleared my throat. “There’s a house for sale two doors down from Eagle and Silk’s place. We could go check it out if you want?”

  She tilted her head at me, frowning a moment before a small, beautiful smile lit up her face. “Are you asking me to move in with you, Jacob Miller?”

  I chuckled at that. “Bunny, you agreed to be my old lady already, so this shouldn’t be a big deal. That and you kinda already are living with me. So I’m just asking if you’d like to share a bigger space with me. I don’t think it would be a good idea to move until after we sort out this shit with Sledge, but it’ll take some time to sort out the paperwork on buying a place anyway.”

  With her arms wrapped around my neck, she pushed up on her toes. I took the hint and lowered my mouth to kiss her again. And again. I loved her mouth, her taste, the way she filled the emptiness that had been inside me since my sister’s murder. With a groan, she pulled back.

  “I’ve fallen head over heels in love with you, my sweet gentleman-biker.”

  I grinned like a fool as my heart damn near exploded out of my chest. “Not so sure about that sweet gentleman-biker comment, but I like the sound of the rest of that statement. Because, Zara, I meant what I said yesterday, and the day before. I love you so fucking much.”

  I took her mouth again, cupping her face to hold her to me. She opened her lips and I delved in, my tongue dancing with hers. She wriggled her body against mine, her tummy rubbing over my rock-hard cock.

  “Oh for fuck’s sake. And you call me sex crazed. C’mon, you two. We got places to be. You can screw all you like once we get back to the clubhouse.”

  With a growl, I pulled away from Zara. “Shut the fuck up, Taz. We’re coming.”

  He chuckled. “Well, if I hadn’t interrupted you, you would have been coming, I’m sure.”

  I turned around and gave him a hard shove. “Go outside already, we’ll be there in a sec.”