Page 11 of Brandishing Betrayals (Devil’s Psychos MC #2)

Jason

I watched Maya retreat from the picture window, her eyes down. I could see the emotions warring over her face as she watched Marcos with their son. She was both happy and sad as she looked at the boy with his father. Tears pooled in her eyes, as a sad smile tugged at her lips.

For the first time since she had returned, she was showing emotions other than annoyance or anger. For the first time since she left us ten years ago, I could see the regret in her caramel-colored eyes.

Was Dagger right? Was there more to the story of her leaving? Was it possible she was hiding something from us? Was it possible that she lied to us about leaving?

I didn’t know what to believe. Up until this moment, I had believed her at her word when she told me that she knew she was pregnant and wanted to leave us. Life back then had been a mess. We had been at war with Las Serpientes, Marcos and I had been shot, and Nico had done time in County.

Then there had been the brawl that Maya had gotten into with Tish.

But knowing that Tish had been Hillcrest’s girlfriend, that Hillcrest had her infiltrate our clubhouse and had come onto Marcos that night, it made sense as to why Maya had delivered an epic beat down.

Maya had never been shy about fighting. Not back then.

She was an angry and possessive thing back then. I used to call her Hellcat. I hadn’t even seen a spark of that old Maya since she’d returned. She had kept her emotions under lock and key, and kept up her damn facade whenever we were around.

Even when I tried to get a rise out of her while I was fucking Vivian, she didn’t get angry.

Annoyed, maybe, but nowhere near as passionate or worked up as she would have gotten years ago if I’d gotten under her skin.

Not that I would have fucked someone else back then.

I wouldn’t cheat, but she was known for her fiery temper, and I liked to rile her up.

“I can’t wait for football to start!” Luke’s excited voice pulled me from my musings of Maya and the past. I glanced over to see Luke beaming up at his father. “Thank you for agreeing to bring me. Mom won’t be home from work yet, when practice starts.”

Marcos grinned down at Luke. “No problemo, little dude. I’m glad I get to spend time with you. I used to play football when I was your age. I played all the way through high school.”

Until he had to drop out, I thought. Life had a funny way reminding you of the past.

“That’s so cool!” Luke exclaimed. “Brody’s big brother is a quarterback for the Jr. High, and he gets all the chicks!”

I laughed heartily at the young man’s excitement. “That what you were doing today? Hangin’ with that girl?”

Luke, for all his exuberance, only blushed slightly. “Sure. Maybe. Melanie lives next door. We’re just hanging out.”

I smiled and shook my head in awe. The kid was nine. What did he know about girls and ‘hanging out’?

There was a knock at the window, and we looked over. Maya was motioning us to come in and eat.

“Food!” Luke cheered, pumping his fist in the air.

“Let’s eat,” Marcos agreed, picking up his shirt off the table and pulling it over his head.

I also pulled on my shirt, feeling the clean cotton stick to my sweaty skin. I’d kill for a shower right now, but I was not about to ask Maya for that.

We followed Luke inside and slowed to a stop when we saw Elaine Henderson dishing up spaghetti. She gave us a look of contempt before she said, “Hello boys,” like we weren’t forty-year-old men.

“Hello, Mrs. Henderson,” Marcos and I said almost in unison.

“I’ll eat with your father, dear,” Elaine said, picking up a bowl and plate and setting them on a tray.

Maya looked up from the salad bowl she was prepping and frowned. “Ok,” she said, looking a little confused.

I watched the two women with interest. Maya never used to get along with her mother.

They would butt heads constantly. She also never would have let her mother just walk away when she clearly had questions.

This new Maya, the post-move and non-confrontational Maya, didn’t say anything to disagree.

Instead, she pulled out another tray and quickly made up another place setting, before she poured two glasses of milk and added them to the tray.

She walked away, following after her mother, with the tray of food and drinks.

Luke sighed and watched her go. “I don’t think Grandma likes you much.”

“Why do you think that?” I asked.

Luke shrugged and played with the food on his plate.

Maya walked back in a moment later, cutting off the conversation as she breezed past us and began making another plate, before she moved on to the large salad bowl and dished herself a portion.

She moved to the table a moment later and set down her dishes, then she turned back to the fridge. “You guys want a beer?” she asked, over her shoulder as she opened the fridge.

“Sure,” Marcos grunted.

I just nodded when Maya met my gaze. She looked away quickly, opening the fridge and pulled out three beers. She left them on the counter for us to grab and walked over to the table.

It was a six-person table. Maya took a seat next to Luke on the far side of the table. Marcos walked over and took the seat across from Luke, leaving both ends of the table open. Deciding to ruffle Maya’s feathers a bit, I took the seat next to her, at the head of the table.

Her movements froze only slightly as I sat down my plate and beer. Had I not been watching; I wouldn’t have noticed. She hadn’t expected me to sit down next to her.

When we were all seated at the table, I grinned internally. Maya was utterly uncomfortable as the awkward silence descended on the table.

“Mom, when does football start?” Luke asked, starting up the conversation.

“Next week,” Maya and Marcos responded.

Maya looked up from her plate to Marc who sat across the table from her. He nodded once at her, and she nodded in agreement.

“So what are we doing next weekend?” Luke asked.

“You’re meeting up with your friends Saturday at the pool,” Maya said, pulling out her cell phone and opening her calendar app.

I looked down at all the dates filled in and narrowed my eyes.

Her schedule was full, every single day of the week had several colors of things going on, even the weekends.

“Sunday, you have Tyler’s birthday party. ”

“Oh yeah,” Luke grinned.

“You’re going to Chicago?” I asked, not bothering to pretend like I wasn’t looking at her calendar, taking note of every damn appointment listed. There were several doctor’s appointments listed each week. I could only assume it had to do with taking care of her parents.

“Uh yeah,” Maya said, not looking at me, as she set down her phone and locked the screen. “It’s Jenna’s birthday. We’re going to spend the weekend at her place. Luke’s going to hang out with his cousins and some old school friends.”

Marcos frowned, glancing at Luke as the boy cheered happily.

“You’re pretty busy,” I commented, staring at Maya.

She shrugged a shoulder and didn’t give me much to go off. “Almost seems like you’re purposely keeping Luke too busy to see Marc,” I accused, leaning back in my chair.

Marcos shot me a look and shook his head.

I just shrugged a shoulder and waited. Once again, I was surprised when Maya didn’t rise to the bait.

It was Luke that spoke up. “Uh no,” he shook his head.

“I have friends, I have a life too. I’m trying to do both and see everyone,” he said so matter-of-factly, I turned from Maya and focused on Luke.

“I’ve been spending every minute with Dad lately,” he said and glance at his father.

“And I love that, I do. But like… I’m missing out on my friends too. ”

Marcos smiled easily, though I could see the hurt in his gaze. “I get it man. You’ve got a lot going on. We’ll figure it out.”

Maya watched Marcos, and I swore I saw actual concern on her face. “Football starts next week. You guys will see each other then, and Sunday dinners are open. We could plan on those?” She suggested, tossing Marc an olive branch.

“Yeah, that sounds good,” Marc nodded.

Maya picked up her phone and slid to August. I saw two free weekends in the middle of the month.

She set the phone down again and locked the screen.

I noted she had it set to thumbprint scan.

“We’ve got a couple of free weekends before school starts, maybe you and your dad can plan something fun for then?

” she asked, looking at Marcos for confirmation.

Marc smiled and nodded, and Luke cheered. “Yeah. I’ll set it up with your mom. We’ll figure it out.”

Luke was so excited as he quickly finished his dinner. Once he bounced away from the table and headed out to the living room, Maya turned to me with a glare. “Don’t fucking do that.”

I smirked. “Do what?”

“Pit him against us,” she growled, finally showing a bit of emotion and anger, finally showing a hint of her old passionate self.

“Luke is not a baby. He knows I would never keep him from his father. It was his idea at to move back here in the first place. He wanted to meet his father. He made that choice. I won’t keep Luke from Marcos, if that’s what Luke wants.

He will also make the choice to see his friends if he so chooses. ”

“Funny how you say won’t keep him from his father, yet you did… for nine years,” I said, leveling her with a glare.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Marcos’s shift in his chair as he watched the two of us get into it. “Yeah, I did,” Maya glared at me. “I fucking left you and didn’t look back. I’m here because my parents need help and Luke wanted to meet his father. That’s it.”

I ground my molars and I clenched my jaw in anger. I wanted to strangle the life out of her for being such a selfish bitch.

“Enough,” Marcos grunted. He picked up his plate and beer bottle and walked over to the sink. He set his dishes in the sink and left the room. “Hey man, you wanna play video games?” he asked Lucas in the living room.

Maya stood from the table and started clearing her half-eaten plate.

I lashed out, standing and grabbing her by the throat.

I wrapped my fingers around her neck and glared down at her, pulling her toward me.

She gasped and clawed at my hands, immediately dropping her dishes to the table with a clash.

I didn’t care. I pulled her toward me. When her face was inches from mine, I growled low, “I know you’re a lying cunt, but I will find out the truth, even if I have to kill you for it.

I won’t allow you to hurt my brother, or take his kid from him. ”

I squeezed her neck tighter. Her face turned red, tears welling in her eyes, and when she started struggling, I squeezed even tighter.

Her eyelids started to flutter. Her hands wrapped around my wrists first, as if she could pull me off her, before she reached down and grabbed the fork from her plate. Her movements were sluggish as she stabbed the fork down into my arm.

I hissed in pain as the tines of the fork broke through flesh. I dropped her immediately.

She began coughing uncontrollably after I let her go, as if she couldn’t get enough air in her lungs fast enough. She would have crumpled to the floor, if she hadn’t caught herself on the table first. Deep coughs left her chest heaving, as tears rolled down her face.

I shook my head in disgust and turned away from her. I walked out the backdoor, not looking back.