Page 29 of Brandishing Balance (Devil’s Psychos MC #3)

Maya

I couldn’t believe it. I should believe it—but I couldn’t. They fucking left me alone. They left me AND Luke alone, not even a fucking week since I got home from the hospital. The fucking club always came before me. Always.

I was so sick of it.

I left the kitchen before they even left the house, trying to stifle the sob that escaped me as I moved through the living room. I had to put on a brave face for Luke, despite the fact that my heart was being crushed into a million pieces.

All I fucking wanted was to be put first for once my fucking life, have them choose ME over the fucking club. Was that too much to ask?

I had to slow my breathing and concentrate. Hearing two Harleys fire up on the driveway shook another sob free from me.

“Mom?” Luke asked, turning away from the movie to look out the window. “Where’s dad going?”

I covered my mouth with my hand, trying to calm my breathing.

“Mom? Are you ok?” Luke turned to me, catching my tears.

I quickly swallowed my sobs, took a deep breath and wiped my eyes. Forcing a smile to my face, I nodded. “Yeah, baby. I’m just really tired and not feeling that well. What do say we go finish the movie upstairs?”

Luke eyed me cryptically, but as the motorcycles roared away down the driveway, then the street, drawing Luke’s attention to the window again, I saw him frown. “Dad didn’t say goodbye.”

My heart couldn’t take much more. Marcos was a selfish fucking ass, and now my son was seeing it for the first time too. “I know, baby. I’m sorry. He said he had to go and he’d be back later tonight.”

Luke frowned, clearly not buying my white lie.

“Come on, let’s go upstairs.” The house suddenly felt a lot less safe when it was just the two of us in it.

Luke nodded and I stood from the couch. I went to the backdoor and made sure it was locked and dead bolted, then I checked the patio door, and the front door, before I turned off all the lights and followed Luke upstairs.

I made a stop into my bedroom for my handgun, tucking it the back of my yoga pants, before I went down the hall to Luke’s room.

Luke set up the movie on his TV in his new bedroom, super proud to have his own big screen. The guys had even set up his gaming system for him, so he could play whenever he wanted, much to my dismay.

“Are you sad that dad left?” Luke asked once we were settled onto his queen mattress and wrapped in blankets.

“Yeah, buddy. I am. I’m scared too,” I admitted.

“We’re safe here, right?” He looked worried as he met my gaze.

“Yeah, buddy. We’re safe. I’m just still nervous after everything that happened.” I tried to be as open as I could with my son about everything. Luke was a smart kid, he knew I traded myself to make sure he was home safe, and he knew the toll it took on me.

“I wish dad didn’t leave,” Luke said.

“Me too, buddy, me too.”

“It makes me mad. You feel better when he’s here. He should be here, taking care of you.”

I couldn’t say anything to that, not without crying, so I kept my mouth shut and let Luke vent his frustrations.

Maya

I must have dozed off, because I startled awake a while later. I didn’t know where I was as first. Looking around in a panic, the soft glow of the TV gave off just enough light for me to see Luke sleeping in the bed beside me.

I slowly got up, sliding from Luke’s bed. I made sure my son was tucked in under the covers before I slipped out of his room. Heading down the hall toward my bedroom, I frowned as she realized all the lights in the house were off. Did Marcos and the guys come home? Or were they still gone?

Walking into my bedroom, I flipped on the light, only to be disappointed.

My bed was empty and still made from when I changed the sheets earlier that afternoon.

Upset, and feeling let down, I couldn’t stop the tears that immediately welled in my eyes.

Closing the door behind me, I walked over to the bed.

I slid under the fresh sheets of my massive empty bed and grabbed the remote for the ceiling fan and light and quickly turned on the fan while shutting off the light.

Once I was in the cool darkness, I let the tears flow down my face as sobs wracked my body. As tired as I was of being weak and always crying since coming home from the hospital, I wasn’t ready to stop. I needed to get the emotions out.

I still couldn’t believe that they left us alone. My guys should have known better. I knew—or thought I had known—back in the day that the club always came first. I naively assumed that now it wouldn’t be the case, not after spending a week with Hillcrest using me for his sick pleasure.

Why weren’t Marcos and Nico and Jason here?

The club always came fucking first.

I would never be good enough for them, no matter what pretty words they threw my way. I would never be first.

Gut wrenching sobs tore through me and I lost myself into the self-doubt and the dark memories of being held captive with Hillcrest.

Nico

I danced around the ring at Telli’s, the Seratelli family’s boxing gym.

The place was packed with Devil’s Psychos and Ravager Knights and members of the Seratelli organization.

It was louder than all hell, as everyone yelled and cheered.

Leo smirked at me from across the ring as we danced around each other.

I gave Leo the first hit, letting my don set the pace. I smirked and got moving, letting the crowd fuel my fight.

Leo grinned wickedly as we both jabbed and dodge one another’s punches. We had been raised together, trained together. It may have been over a decade since we were in the ring together, but we still knew how the other one moved.

I shook off a rough hit to the jaw and smirked. “Game on, cousin.”

“Took you long enough,” Leo shot back.

Movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention, and I glanced over to see both Marcos and Jason standing in the corner of the ring. “The fuck?” I growled, mostly to myself.

Leo landed another punch, this time to my ribs, and I grunted in pain.

Attention still on Marcos and Jason, I shouted at them. “You left them alone?”

Marcos shrugged a shoulder.

I narrowed my gaze on my president as anger flared within me. Leo still swarmed me, but he sensed my shifting mood and quickly went on the defensive as I turned to my cousin to end the fight quickly. I had another fight to get to—namely kicking my brothers’ asses.

“What happened?” Leo asked, eyeing me as he blocked a particularly nasty punch.

“They fucking left her alone,” I growled. “They’re both here.”

Leo turned just enough to see Marcos and Jason out of the corner of his eye. “Alright, then we call it. You can’t go after your president here, but call Jason into the ring.”

I paused mid-step and nodded. The crowd yelled around us, clearly confused by the fight stopping.

It was for the best anyway, I didn’t want to get into trouble with my family, not when I just got them back.

Not that I cared much about the others, but I did care about Leo, and Giovanni and my other cousins.

Stalking toward the corner of the ring, I ducked through the ropes before and jumped down to the floor below and got right in Jason’s face. “You fucking left her?” I growled.

“Shit,” Jason muttered.

“It was my call,” Marcos spoke up.

“It’s always your fucking call,” I growled.

“Not the place, brother,” Jason muttered.

Rage roiled within me. “Maybe not for him, but it is for you, motherfucker.” I grabbed Jason by the collar and yanked him forward roughly, tossing him into the ring aggressively, before I got in Marcos’s face.

“I’ll deal with you in private,” I vowed, before I turned back to the ring and climbed in after Jason.

Jason had already rolled to his feet and was getting up as I stormed toward him.

The surrounding crowd cheered loudly, but I ignored them all.

I had a beef to settle with my brother, and I didn’t give a fuck who witnessed it.

I was sick and fucking tired of Jason and Marcos leaving Maya alone.

She’d only been home a couple days after the most traumatic thing someone could go through—in my mind—and she was home alone.

I hit Jason in the face—hard—without Jason even putting up a fucking arm to stop me. I didn’t go easy on my brother, despite the man not fighting back, I laid into him like he was a fucking punching bag. “Fight back, motherfucker!” I growled.

“No,” Jason grunted, absorbing another hit—this time to his ribs.

“You’re right, absolutely right. We shouldn’t have left.

I should have told Marcos to leave without me.

He’s president, you’re VP, it makes sense that you’re both here.

I can stay back, one of the other guys could have watched Marcos’s back. ”

I landed another punch to Jason’s face. “You got that right, motherfucker. Stop. Fucking. Leaving. Her. Alone!” I growled the words, landing a punch with every word I said, emphasizing my point.

Jason was a bloody mess before I finally backed off. Swaying on his feet, blood pouring out of his bruised and battered face, Jason nodded at me. “You’re right.”

I shook my head and walked away. I didn’t give a fuck about being right. I needed to get home to my woman and make sure she was ok, both physically and mentally. I could only imagine the toll this was taking on her.