“Strong woman.” His fingers tensed over hers, curling tighter. “He took her as leverage against me. Came to my house and had her trussed up like a turkey while they waited on me to come home. This was after I’d done everything right when I exited his motherfucking club in Philly. Took my beatout, and then needed a fucking month to heal up so we could move to Birmingham. Lauren’s from there. Made sense for us to come to where she called home. Her folks doted on Makayla. Our little girl can do no wrong.” He winced. “Could do no wrong.”
The past-tense change hurt her heart. He’d been talking about his family in the present all along, and she hated to hear that shift of acknowledgment.
“Things went to shit for Scar back east, and he was looking for a place to land. Me and Retro wouldn’t offer him anything. We shut him out, closed the door on any conversation. So Scar came to Birmingham to try and make his case in person. It meant he wanted me focused on listening to him, so he ensured he’d have my ear. He had it, all right. Promised he wouldn’t hurt my girls, so I went with him. Thought he was honorable, somewhere deep in his soul. Willingly gave him my back, let him tie me up, and me talking to Lauren the whole time. Reassuring her. He put us in a van, carried our little girl like a sleeping princess and laid her gentle-like on the floor. She never woke, not then. He had friends, though. They split us up. Makayla was awake by then, asking me what the bad men wanted. Crying as they chained me to seat struts in the van so I couldn’t get loose. That was the last time I saw my girls breathing. The doc Retro hired said they’d died of carbon monoxide poisoning. They’d have gone to sleep and never felt anything. There were no bruises on them anywhere, not even around Lauren’s wrists. So Scar kept one promise, even as he fucked himself over on another one. Might not have been his hands that killed them, but still they died.”
“What can I do?” Marian didn’t remember feeling this helpless before. Not even when Myrtle had told her about the treatment survived under Sallabrook had words caused her this kind of pain. That had been in the past, at least. What Einstein was living through would never be a distant memory. Pain like his doesn’t fade. “Please.”
“Let me finish.” His arm flexed underneath her fingers. In a tone gone dark and heavy with the memories he’d been reciting, he promised, “Then you can ask whatever questions you have.”
“Okay.” She’d offer him anything right now, if it had a chance of stripping the anguish from his voice.
“Bunch of clubs banded together to save me. Retro called in nearly every marker he held and then organized the collaborative rescue mission. Included flying to Florida on a private jet, believe it or not. Fact is, I’d be dead right now without what Retro did, because Scar had lost control of his allies. Those men who had come alongside him to take everything away from me. Scar’d known it was a possibility, given who he was turning his back on, namely his family. So when it went down and was sideways, he had a plan, and the bastard bailed, leaving me in the hands of men who weren’t inclined to feel kindly towards me.
“Back when I’d been in Scar’s club, I’d done everything he asked. No questions. Beat up a guy who didn’t deserve it? Done. Push deep into enemy territory and start shit? Done. None of these assholes felt a bit of compassion towards me. I’d already seen the faces of my girls not breathing, cold and still. I wasn’t going to fight them too much.”
Marian tried to slow her breathing, aware she’d begun panting during his recitation of grief.
“Then Retro entered the building, followed by a couple dozen faces I knew and some I didn’t. They were there for me. You’d think that’d be enough to make me second-guess that decision.” His laugh was harsh enough to scald her skin. “You’d think wrong. Scar was in the wind, my girls were in the ground, and I didn’t want to be anywhere. Retro dragged me back to the present by the skin of his teeth, clawing his way back into my life in a way that wouldn’t let me close the door. Then, Maid Marian, I found my mission. To hunt down Scar and make him pay.”
“That’s where you go when you disappear.” So many things made sense now. Every club member she’d met over the past few years stayed a lot closer to home than Einstein did. Plus, she heard through gossip that he never went back to Birmingham even though that’s where the BBMC had their clubhouse. “And it’s why you don’t go home. It hurts too much. You come here instead.”
“Smart woman.” He patted her hand and let his fall to his lap. “I’m always on the lookout for good info on him. He and Bane, their mother was a woman from the Crow Nation in Montana, so periodically I’ll idle up that way and keep tabs on their family. Their father is the only son of an old Italian mafioso, but he disavowed his legacy. That legacy isn’t happy about their investment in the Scarloucci family going unused, and they keep reaching out in a variety of ways. Made it so I’ve opened up lines of communication overseas, ready to get a stamp on my passport if needed. Their family home is in New Jersey, and I have cameras on that around the clock, just in case interested parties come by. At least once a week, Mudd runs that video through some software for me, so I know who’s been to visit. Been keeping my ear to the ground, listening for hoofbeats of things that might never matter. Digging through dumpsters looking for diamonds. But today?” He paused and looked at her, upper lip lifting again in a snarl. “Today I got news that Scar’s on the prowl. He thinks he can force me into making a mistake. He knows that I come here and not home, just like you realized. Only he thinks you are the reason.” Einstein’s head shook back and forth. “He’s not wrong, but that’s not something I want to talk about right now.”
“He’s going to try to use me to get to you. Leverage a woman in your life.” A chill raced along her skin, leaving goose bumps in its wake. “Just like he did before.”
“Yeap. But he didn’t count on the friends I’ve made. And he didn’t factor in everything that’s you.” He lifted her coffee towards her, and Marian let go of his arm, keeping her hold around his back as she accepted the cup. He picked up his and clinked the rims together. “You and me, we’re gonna make him pay.”
Marian thought of the life she lived now, compared to what it had been like back in her father’s house. Family was supposed to keep you safe, but she’d had ample experience to know that wasn’t how it worked out, not always. Her siblings had been pawns, assets to be bartered, leveraged. There’d been neither love nor loyalty. Those things had only come when she’d left her childhood behind. “I’ve never felt safer than in Bane’s house, surrounded by men in the club.”
The expression that flashed across Einstein’s face was a shocking show of hurt, smoothed over in an instant. What in that statement could have hurt him?
“Sitting here with you, I have complete confidence that you’d protect me, no matter what walked through the door.” With that, he—preened is the only word, she thought. His chest puffed out, neck arching as he looked directly at her. He didn’t like being excluded from what makes me feel safe. Huh. “I never had that at home. Seeing how my father treated Myrtle, then the boys, giving them no say in their own lives.” Marian took in a slow breath, deliberately unclenching her jaw. “You, Bane, Gunny, Truck, Monday, Horse—I’d do anything for you men. Being your girlfriend wouldn’t be a hardship.” Another flare of emotion in his eyes made her realize her misstep, and she corrected herself. “Pretending. I know it won’t be real.”
Einstein opened his mouth, and she rushed to fill the gap. “Regardless, I’d do anything to keep you safe, and what you’re asking? Small in comparison to what’s been done for me.” She retrieved her arm and put both elbows to the table as she straightened in the seat. I’ll do whatever’s necessary to help ease his pain. Picking up her sandwich, she took a small bite, staring down at her plate as she chewed. Swallowing, she told him, “I’m all in, Jim.”
“Are you sure, Marian?” Now he was the one shifting around, and she leaned against his side when his arm dropped heavily across her shoulders, his hand curling across her skin to pull her close. “It’s
a lot to ask. We’ll need to appear…” Grief warred with some emotion she couldn’t name in his face. “Intimate. It’ll be intense at times.”
“You know how you taught me to ride behind you?” He nodded. “And how to drive the car?” One corner of his mouth lifted along with his brows. “And Gunny taught me how to shoot?” Both brows shot down, a furrow appearing between them. “Well, Horse taught me—”
“What’s your point, Marian?” He cut her off as his face came closer, taking up all of her vision. “You saying you’d be my student in intimacy? That I’d be the one teaching you…things?”
Marian thought back to last summer, a lazy afternoon on the banks of the creek, Horse sitting next to her as they both laughed at her attempts to copy his actions. “Horse taught me to kiss, is all I was going to say.”
Einstein went rigid beside her. His face flushed, nostrils flaring as his jaw worked side to side. “Horse did what now?” His fingers dug into the upper part of her arm, holding her in place. Not that she would have tried to move away, but with the force of his suddenly fierce grip, she knew she couldn’t have. “Did you say Horse taught you to kiss?”
“Yeah.” The memory was funny and sweet, and she saw her smile reflected in his eyes. “He was really nice about it.”
“Oh, I just bet he was. Gunny’s gonna kill him, he finds out.”
Marian rolled her eyes. “Gunny already knows.”
“Really.” Einstein loomed closer, his mouth inches from hers. “You sure about that? Were you a good student? Should I test out how well you learned from him?” Each outward gust of breath was warm, heating her skin. Is he going to… “I think I should.”
Marian’s lids fluttered closed as he leaned in that last bit of distance. She wasn’t sure what she hoped would happen. Then his lips pressed to hers, dry and hot and somehow exactly what she’d expected.
The pressure was gentle, the touch of his lips soft as they glided across to drop a sweet peck at each corner of her mouth. Insistent as they plucked at her upper lip, then pulled her bottom one between them. She gasped as her head dropped to the side. He continued on while Marian tried to control her reeling senses, those tiny kisses drugging as they moved from sweet into something bigger, growing until his mouth worked harder against hers.
Scruff prickled delicately against her chin and scraped lightly at her cheeks, stinging tiny arcs of electricity on her lips as he moved across and over. Something wet and persistent relentlessly swiped across her bottom lip, drawing her tongue out to taste. What had to be his tongue touched hers in response to the needy sound that escaped with his gentle exploration. He tasted of coffee and something wild. Then there was a return to the sweet pecks, only now his mouth was hot and wet, feeling like sodden silk as it dragged across her lips to her cheek and then up beside her ear. “So good.” The whisper didn’t make sense until Einstein pulled back and she opened her eyes to stare up at him. His pupils were dark, edging the color of his irises to a narrow band. “God, Marian.”
“That’s…” She huffed out a sigh. “That’s not how Horse did it.” Head lolling against his shoulder, she grinned. “I like your way a lot better.”
Einstein’s frown made her want to reach up and smooth it away. “How did Horse do it?”
Marian lifted her hand and made a fist, angling her thumb across the edge of her index finger. “Like this.” Lazily lifting her hand to her mouth, she made a smacking sound as she touched her lips to it. “But I like your way better.”
***
Einstein
“Jesus God.” Einstein breathed out, having trouble regulating his heartbeat, head busy tamping down things the kiss had stirred inside him.
Marian blinked up at him as her hand fell back to her lap. Her plush bottom lip caught between her teeth. Her eyes searched his face, gaze flickering from one eye to the other.
Einstein reeled. Every emotion he’d been fighting came roaring to the forefront, arousal not the least of them. “When you said he taught you to kiss, I thought—” Clearly I was wrong. Did it make him a bastard that he liked the fact he’d been her first real kiss? Probably. But do I give a fat fuck? Nope.
In that instant, he knew he wouldn’t have to pretend with her. Nothing would be pretense, everything real, but she couldn’t know that. Him developing feelings wasn’t what she’d signed up for, and there was no way Einstein would saddle her with someone as fucked-up as he was. Not even as a short-term thing, and especially not when Marian deserved the longest commitment a man could make.
“We should eat. You’ve got to get back to work.” He changed the subject as he slipped his arm free of her shoulders, but couldn’t stand to lose contact with her totally, so draped a hand over her thigh. “Then tonight, we can talk more. Hammer out our strategy.” A thought struck him, and he winced. “We’ll have to pretend in front of everyone, Marian. That means Myrt and the boys, Bane and his men. You sure you’re up for that?”
Sometime during his epiphany, she’d withdrawn as well, now sitting straight and staring down at her plate of half-eaten food. “Yeap.” She didn’t look at him. “Don’t like lyin’ to folks, but already told you I’d do whatever you needed.”
“Marian, what’s wrong?” Asshole, you know what’s wrong. You kissed her stupid and then pulled back like it didn’t mean anything. Like she doesn’t mean the world to you. “Are you mad?”
“No, just thinking.” The smile she aimed his direction didn’t reach her eyes. “I’m okay.” She tossed his frequently stated words back at him. “No big deal.”
“Hey.” He crowded closer and tightened his fingers around the muscle of her thigh. “That was a good kiss. Real good kiss for me. I liked it.” She didn’t look at him, and he wrapped his hand around the back of her neck, pulling her tight against his side. “You’re the first woman I’ve kissed since I lost Lauren, Marian. I’m sorry if I’m out of practice.”
“It was my first kiss ever, so trust me I wouldn’t know good from bad at this point.” Stiffness in her muscles was a reminder that he’d hurt her. “Guess we’ll get to practice more, huh?” There was a clear lack of enthusiasm in her tone. “I’m not hungry anymore, so I’m ready to go whenever you are.”
“Marian.” Just her name, because his brain had stuttered and was in the process of shutting down, not willing to reengage while he tried not to unpack his own emotions. “I really do like you.”
“I know. I like you too.” Her fingers twisted together in her lap. “We’re buds. I’m everybody’s little sister, right?” The corner of her mouth moved, lifting into an expression he couldn’t quite see, turned away as she was. “I won’t forget.” Using the surface of the big window next to her as a mirror, he studied her reflected image. The twist of her mouth wasn’t a smile, not by a long shot. “Can we go now?”
Einstein shoved away his plate, the burger largely uneaten. He glanced at the window again and turned away from his own expression, one of utter devastation, and caught the attention of the waitress with a lifted finger. She was bustling over as he pulled his wallet out, not bothering to look at the ticket before he handed her a couple of bills. “We’ve got to go. Food was fine.” He lifted his gaze to find hers locked on Marian. “Keep the change.”
As he slid out of the booth, he slipped his hand around Marian’s and helped her to her feet. “Thanks,” she whispered, still not meeting his gaze. “I need the bathroom before we get back on the bike.”
Briefly, he contemplated what he could see of her face. “Sure, baby. I’ll be outside. Take your time.” She pulled free from his grip and turned to walk towards the back of the restaurant. He looked at the waitress again, seeing her gaze had followed Marian. “Check on her for me?” She glanced up at him, and he saw tension lines in her features had eased at his obvious concern. “We didn’t have a fight or anything, just a hard conversation for her. I’m in no rush.” She pushed past him without speaking.
Outside, he strolled to the bike and leaned against the seat, maintain
ing a clear line of sight with the front door. He pulled out his phone and checked messages to find he’d missed two calls. Both were from Birmingham numbers but unfamiliar to him. Only one had left a voicemail. Einstein punched buttons and lifted the device to his ear.
“Einstein. Friend.” The hard emphasis on the second word was unmistakable, and he tensed. “This is Popova, Greg Popova. Been a minute, man. I got a strange message a little bit ago, thought you’d like to hear about it. Gimme a call.”
If Greg thought the Bama Bastards would need to be in the loop, he would have called Retro, not the club’s only nomad. The fact he’d dialed Einstein’s number meant this had to be personal. Russian mob versus Italian was an ongoing struggle everywhere the two groups tried to coexist, and through the decades, their clashes had been historic.
He saved the voicemail to the files folder on his phone, an action that would trigger the club’s backup routine to pick it up and push to the main servers, making it easier for him to call Mudd’s attention to it. Einstein looked up in time to see Marian swing through the front door, head held high as she walked his direction. An intense examination of her features didn’t give him any indication as to her emotions. Her expression was blank and bland, and something curled tight in his chest. I don’t like that. My Marian—Einstein cut off that thought. She wasn’t his anything, except friend. He deliberately pulled on memories of Lauren to burn any ideas out of his head but found them harder than ever to surface.
Marian was at his side before he refocused on her. Nope. Don’t like that look on her. “Ready?” Instead of reaching out to her, he stood upright and swung a leg over the bike. Lifting it off the kickstand, he balanced the heavy machine between his thighs. She hadn’t answered him, so he glanced at her again. “Need a few minutes more, Marian?”
Tangled Threats on the Nomad Highway Page 22