Wrench: A Motorcycle Club Romance (Inked Hunters MC) (Unbreakable Bad Boys Book 1)

by Sophia Gray

  “Your fiancé seems nice,” Arsen lied, changing the subject and tapping his fingers against the wall behind him to distract himself from the falsehood leaving his mouth.

  Maya scoffed a little and shook her head. “He’s usually not like that, by the way. He’s very calm and nice back home. I’ve never seen him get so angry.”

  “He’s just worried about you,” Arsen said with a shrug. “I would feel the same way.” In fact, if he was being really honest with himself, he did, actually, feel a knot of anxiety at the base of his stomach, getting wider and wider the more he thought about the phone call from the killer. It just didn’t make sense. Why would he target Maya and not Arsen?

  “He’s being an ass,” Maya confessed sharply, rubbing her own arms a second later, clearly chilly as a result of the compound’s low temperatures. “I know what I’m doing. He doesn’t get to just show up and start controlling me, even if we are planning to get married.”

  “So that’s still happening?” Arsen asked, his voice coming out low and hesitant. His stomach pulsed nervously, but he had to ask the question. He had to know if their lovemaking changed anything for Maya.

  Maya didn’t answer right away, instead reaching up to tangle her fingers through her hair. Arsen knew she was scratching her own scalp to calm down. She always used to do that when she got stressed out from work. “I don’t know, Arsen. I don’t know what to do. I’m stuck.”

  “What do you mean?” Arsen asked.

  Maya blew out her breath and shook her head, raising her shoulders up in a shrug that communicated her mixed emotions. “On one hand, I’ve got a life back home to worry about. I’ve got a nice guy who treats me right, who doesn’t deserve what I’ve done to him.” She paused to shake her head at herself, a bitter smile spreading across her face as she considered her predicament. “And then…there’s here. There’s the city and all its dirty problems, all the women who need my help. And…there’s you.”

  Arsen’s heart picked up in his chest, skipping several beats like it was trying to jump-rope rather than send blood throughout his body. “Yeah?” he whispered, his tongue practically aching with the effort of asking her to repeat what she’d just said.

  Maya nodded, squeezing her arms closer to her body like she was giving herself a hug to calm down. “Yeah. I mean, I don’t know, Arsen. I don’t fucking know. It’s not as simple as…caring about you, which I do. I really do. But I’ve got to choose a life that isn’t going to kill me. I’ve got to pick a life that’s not going to torture me and remind me of all the shit that happened over and over and over again. Please understand that.”

  “I do,” Arsen murmured, but he couldn’t stop himself from pressing on. “But have you ever thought that maybe this is what you were supposed to do? That maybe what happened to you happened for a reason? So you could help these women like you did with Roxie earlier today?”

  Maya shook her head. “There’s no easy explanation for it. A psychopath got his hands on me, just like he did to Lizzie and Roxie and all the other girls that got hurt. There’s no deeper meaning than that.”

  Arsen opened his mouth, ready to argue with her some more, when the door to Chris’s bedroom opened and Chris popped out, his eyes wide and his mouth dropped open as he clutched Maya’s cell phone to his chest.

  “Well, shit, that took a lot less than an hour to do,” Maya commented, but Chris just shook his head and focused his attention on Arsen.

  “Arsen. This is serious. This is bad.”

  “What, you can’t find the location?” Arsen asked, feeling his heart drop down to his stomach in disappointment.

  Chris shook his head again, harder this time. “No, no, that’s not it. I did find it.”

  “Great! Tell us where he is, and we’ll get that fucker!” Maya said as her hands balled up into fists, preparing herself for a fight.

  “That’s just it. It came from here.”

  “What do you mean?” Arsen asked, even though his blood seemed to freeze inside him, like his body already knew the answer to his question.

  “The call originated within the Inked Hunters’ compound. The killer is someone we know.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “We need to start searching every room in this goddamn building,” Maya said, immediately launching herself off the wall and beginning to pace back and forth in the hallway outside of Chris’s room.

  Arsen shook his head firmly, but Maya could see that the color had drained from his face, leaving him pale and washed-out. “We can’t do that. That would alert the killer that we’re on to him and give him a chance to get away.”

  “Lockdown, then,” Maya said. “Nobody comes in or out, starting now, until we find out who did this.”

  This time Chris interrupted her. “There’s too many entrances and exits to the building. I don’t even know where all the doors are, and I’ve been here for a while. The caller would have plenty of time to get away unless you successfully guess who he is before you search anybody else’s rooms.”

  “We have to do something!” Maya practically shrieked before sighing heavily, clearly fighting hard to keep her composure. “Look, chances are the killer is in this building right now, and we can’t just let go of that opportunity.”

  “You’re right,” Arsen said, his forehead wrinkling up as he frowned. “But you can’t be involved, Maya.”

  “What? What are you talking about? I’m going to help you look,” she protested, feeling a wave of panic begin to surge inside of her. He can’t cut me out of this, she thought. He just can’t. I’m in too deep now.

  “Chris and I can go room to room and look around without alerting anybody that we’re suspicious. But you stick out like a sore thumb. Maybe last year at this time, you could have just hung around and nobody would have thought anything different, but they know you’re here on a case. It’s too risky. You can’t help,” Arsen said.

  “Like fuck am I backing off now!” Maya shouted, shaking her head at Arsen. “And you can’t stop me.”

  Arsen’s breathing became audible, his breaths puffing out of him like thick smoke before he finally spoke again. “I can’t let you. I’m sorry.” The sadness in his eyes almost pierced Maya’s heart, but she was too angry at the moment to let him in.

  Maya briefly considered breaking into a run, hiding in the various rooms of the compound while searching their contents for any suspicious evidence. But she knew it was no use. Arsen was stronger than her and could easily restrain her if he had to, and he also had Chris on his side to help him. There was no way she could successfully investigate any of the rooms without the two of them following her around, preventing her from searching as thoroughly as she’d like. “Goddammit,” she huffed under her breath, staring down at her own shoes so Arsen wouldn’t see that hot tears had just filled her eyes.

  “I’m sorry,” Arsen whispered from across the hall.

  “Oh, save it,” Maya said. “I don’t want to hear it from you anymore. You want me in the city, but you don’t want me to be in control, not really. You’re scared of what I’ll do because I’m just a crazy victim and you’re calm and detached, and therefore, you think you’re better at this than me somehow. Well, it doesn’t fucking work that way.”

  “I just don’t want you to get hurt!” Arsen yelled, his real motive finally becoming clear. “Please! Why is that so bad? I just want to protect you. I just want to keep you safe.”

  “You’re about fifteen years too late for that!” Maya yelled back. “I will never be safe. I will never be protected. I will never be okay, ever again! The best I can do is just help people like me, but you don’t want to let me. You don’t trust me. You don’t think I’m as strong as you are, not really.”

  Arsen shook his head but didn’t say anything.

  “You and Chuck are the same, you know,” Maya murmured, finally meeting Arsen’s dark eyes, seeing the heavy guilt that lay within. “You’re both fucking cowards.”

  “Jesus,” said Chris, who appar
ently had been watching and listening for the duration of this altercation.

  “No, she’s right. I am,” Arsen said to Chris before refocusing his attention on Maya. “But I care about you. Your safety is all that matters to me now. I was selfish before, trying to get you involved in this shit. Chuck was right. It’s not healthy for you. You deserve better than this.”

  “I deserve to make my own choices, Arsen,” Maya said, her voice coming out shaky and unsteady as she fought to keep control over the tears that desperately wanted to leak out of her eyes.

  “You deserve to live,” Arsen whispered, stepping forward so that he could close the space between his body and Maya’s, reaching down to grab Maya’s hands for one second before she pulled out of his grasp.

  “You said you couldn’t do this without me,” Maya whispered, staring down at the ground again. “You said it just a few hours ago.”

  “I was drunk. I was stupid. You shouldn’t listen to me,” Arsen said, reaching forward again to put his hands on Maya’s shoulders, peeling her off the wall and pressing her into his arms. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

  “Get off me,” Maya ordered, shoving Arsen away from her. “Come on. Let’s go, I guess.” She set off marching down the hall, furiously wiping at her damp eyes with the sleeve of her shirt.

  Arsen walked closely behind her but didn’t try to touch her again. Maya wasn’t sure how she felt about that. On one hand, she knew that if he touched her again, she would only shove him away, but at the same time, she had never felt this weak before in her entire life, with one notable exception. She wished she could be comforted. She wished she could be held and protected and safeguarded, but allowing that to happen would be like admitting that she wasn’t strong, that she wasn’t independent, and that he was right about her. All the men in her life were right about her. Nobody believed in her, not really. Nobody thought she could handle facing her past….not even Maya herself.

  She was quiet for the subway ride back to Chuck’s hotel, avoiding direct eye contact with Arsen. She knew that if she saw his sad, guilty face one more time, she’d feel sympathy for the bastard, and her body was already overflowing with pity for herself, pity for the girls, and pity for Lizzie. She didn’t have any room leftover to care about Arsen’s feelings right now. Even still, she could see him through her peripheral vision, watching him as he seemed to melt into the seat next to her, like all of his muscles were surrendering.

  “You didn’t have to come with me, you know,” Maya said through clenched teeth. “I could take the subway by myself.”

  “I just want to make sure you get back safe,” Arsen said, but at this point, he sounded defeated, drained of his energy.

  “I’m not a child,” Maya replied, but it was hard to keep the anger in her voice when Arsen sounded so deflated.

  “I know,” Arsen murmured in response. “I know.”

  “And anyway, how do you know that the killer won’t just follow us here? I could be in danger at the hotel, too,” Maya argued, even though she didn’t really believe the words she was saying. She knew she was being vindictive, arguing with Arsen just for the sake of arguing with him, punishing him for making a decision about her fate.

  “Chuck will protect you,” Arsen said.

  “How do you know that?” Maya asked, finally turning in her seat to face Arsen. “Really, how do you know? You only met him for like five minutes when he was yelling at you. He could be anyone. You don’t know that he’ll keep me safe.”

  “He loves you,” Arsen said softly, looking up at Maya through his long dark eyelashes. “Anyone who loves you will fight to protect you. I know that much.”

  Arsen’s words hung heavy in the air, pressing down on Maya like a thick raincloud just waiting to release over her head. She had to swallow a few times to clear her throat, which suddenly clogged up with repulsive emotion that she couldn’t just wish away. She knew the implication behind Arsen’s words because he’d said as much when they were having sex. I love you.

  It didn’t matter, though. It didn’t matter if he loved her, if he cherished her, or if he wanted her safe. He didn’t respect her. He didn’t trust her. Neither of them did. Maybe that was the answer to all of Maya’s problems, choosing neither of them.

  The subway rolled to a stop, and they both jumped out of their seats and exited, walking briskly against the chilly weather towards Chuck’s upscale hotel.

  “So I guess this is it,” Arsen said as they approached the entrance.

  “Oh, what, you’re not going to walk me up to Chuck’s room?” she said a little sarcastically, but at the same time, she felt a sudden twinge of panic at the base of her stomach at the idea of Arsen leaving. It wasn’t like she felt less safe without him, necessarily, but she hadn’t prepared herself for the idea that this might be the very last time she ever saw him. The reality of it crashed down on her all at once, sending shaking vibrations throughout her system as she stared hard at Arsen, trying to memorize his face. It didn’t matter if she was furious with him. She needed to remember this moment. She needed to remember him, exactly as he was.

  Arsen shook his head. “I’ve got to go. You were right before. We have to search the compound, top to bottom, until we find something that lets us know who the killer is. It’s got to be a Hunter or someone closely affiliated with the Inked Hunters. We know that much, at least.” He paused and looked away from her, his jaw clenching like he was restraining himself from saying something else. “I’ll…let you know what happens. I’ll just email you or whatever.”

  “Okay,” Maya said, too exhausted at this point to argue with him any further. “Just let me know first, before you tell anybody else.”

  “Of course,” Arsen said, looking back at her again, his dark eyes bearing deep into hers, shining with an emotion that Maya recognized but couldn’t name. “Please…stay safe.”

  “I will,” Maya said, nodding a little. “Thank you for…being the person that you are. In case I don’t see you again. I…well, you know the rest.” I loved you, she thought, her heart hanging down low in her chest. I loved you the way the stars love the darkness around them, I loved you the way the ocean loves its floor, the way the grass loves the wind. I loved you, desperately, fiercely. Forever.

  “Well. Get inside. Get warm,” Arsen said, turning his back on her and walking quickly away.

  “Goodbye!” Maya called after him, but he didn’t answer or slow down. Maya felt like blood was leaking inside of her, like her organs were coming to pieces but still trapped inside the borders of her body.

  Maya turned and walked into the hotel, striding through the lobby and walking up the stairs to Chuck’s room. The door was unlocked when she got there, and he was waiting for her, sitting on the bed with his arms crossed over his chest. Tension and anticipation and anger were coming off of him in waves that hit Maya as soon as she entered the room. Clearly he wasn’t happy with her. Well, Maya had bigger problems to deal with at the moment anyway.

  “Where have you been?” Chuck asked softly. That wasn’t a good sign. When he was restrained and held-back, it just meant a storm was brewing. He was about to unleash on her. Maya sighed deeply, preparing herself for the onslaught of judgment that was sure to come from Chuck’s lips mere moments later.

  “You know where I’ve been,” she said with a shrug, acting as unperturbed as possible. She didn’t want to get on the defensive, as that would imply that she did something wrong, and at least this time, she hadn’t. She didn’t leave Chuck at the hotel to sleep with Arsen. It was all about the girls, and she refused to feel guilty about that.

  “So you went out with your ex again, huh?” Chuck challenged, but it didn’t really sound like a question, so Maya didn’t dignify it with an answer. “So what’s the excuse this time? More murder stuff? More danger that you don’t need to get involved in?”

  Maya shook her head and turned to stare at the television against the wall, not really appreciating the condescending tone that Chuck was using
with her. Usually he was calm, even when he was being judgmental and cruel. But now he seemed on-edge, as though all of his hackles were raised, poised for an attack. Maya wished she could say that she had enough sense to be scared like she usually did when men got angry with her, but for now, all of her emotions were wiped free, replaced with empty apathy. “I don’t know why you don’t respect my job, but whatever,” she mumbled.