Page 32 of Brandishing Betrayals (Devil’s Psychos MC #2)

Maya

T he next morning, I woke up with a raging hang-over.

My head pounded in time with my heart and my stomach rolled.

I slunk out of bed as carefully as I could, to not wake Nico and rushed to the bathroom before I spilled my guts all over his carpet.

I managed to get the bathroom door shut softly and turn on the shower, before I was hovering over the toilet bowl, puking up the remnants of too much wine from the night before.

I wasn’t much of a wine drinker. I usually stuck to vodka. Vodka I could handle, wine made me sick.

Thankfully once I got it out of my system, my stomach immediately felt better. I found a brand-new toothbrush still in the packaging on the counter for me and his toothpaste in the medicine cabinet.

After I brushed my teeth, I peeled off last night’s dress and stuck my hand into the walk-in shower, testing the water temp. I had to adjust so it wasn’t so scalding, but I slipped inside anyways, letting the hot water wash away what remained of my hang over.

My thoughts drifted to last night and a blush coated my cheeks at the thought of everything that transpired. God, he had been relentless in his search for the truth. He had played my body like a damn fiddle and shredded my emotions apart.

I couldn’t even be mad about it.

Briefly I wondered if that had been his plan all along, but even if it was, I couldn’t blame him. Not when I was keeping secrets from him about literally everything.

He loved me.

I had known that was true the first time I saw all three of them again—Marcos, Nico, and even Jason. They all still loved me, and I still loved them. It’s why it was so hard that I couldn’t tell them the truth.

And I almost broke down last night and told him the truth.

I would have to pull away again, push them away again . It was going to hurt. Fuck, it was going to hurt. But I had to. Luke’s life was in danger, my men’s lives were in danger; Hillcrest could and would kill any one of them if I opened my mouth.

No, it was safer this way. Everyone was safer this way.

By the time I got out of the shower and toweled off, a new resolve had settled over my shoulders. I could do this. I had to.

Nico

I sensed the change in her mood the moment she walked out of the bathroom.

Her dress from the night before was back in place, her hair was wet, but brushed down her back, and her mask was fully in place before she walked into my bedroom.

I laid there a moment longer debating on if I should even bother trying to get her back into bed or not. “Morning.”

“Hey,” she murmured.

“Hungry?” I asked, slowly sitting up and turning to get out of bed.

“I should go.”

I clenched my teeth and took a deep breath. I knew she’d react this way, I would just have to play it cool. “Let’s get breakfast, Little Dreamer. It’ll help your stomach.”

“Nico.” She sighed. “I really need to go home.”

“I spoke to your mom yesterday.” I got out of bed and pulled a pair of jeans out of my dresser. “Told her I made you plans at the spa for the day. She seemed cool with it.”

Maya narrowed her eyes at me. “Nic—”

“Maya, please.” I walked over to her, stopping just short of getting into her space. “Please, let me do this for you. It’s already booked, already paid for. Enjoy the day at the spa. Slade’s going to meet you there. Have some girl time. Massages, facials, the works, it’s all on me.”

Her lips parted as disbelief flashed in her eyes.

I smiled easily and gathered her into my arms. “I love you, baby,” I admitted easily. “I want you to relax today. Don’t worry about anything. I’ll take care of it all.”

“Nico, I don’t know what to say.”

“Say yes. Just say yes.”

“Yes.” Her eyes twinkled as a smile broke across her face. “Thank you.”

I grinned. “You can thank me later.”

She smiled but shook her head. “Your thanks was last night. I need to go home tonight. I can’t leave my mother two weekends in a row to completely care for my father alone.”

I didn’t let the grin drop from my face as I nodded easily. Pulling her into my arms, I held her against me. “Alright, baby.” I nodded. “I hear you.”

Maya blushed at the endearment and I vowed to myself to make it happen every single time I saw her going forward. She was so fucking beautiful. “Thank you, Nico.”

“Anytime, baby.” I leaned in and pressed a kiss to her lips. I was shocked when she met me halfway, pushing herself closer to me. I groaned as her tongue came out to play, deepening the kiss. “Fuck, Maya.”

She giggled softly at the same time her stomach rumbled loudly.

“Breakfast it is.” I laughed and slowly pulled away. “Let me find a shirt and we can go. There’s a family restaurant by the spa.”

Maya

I was on cloud nine as I checked into the spa.

Nico had walked me in and spoke to the manager, before he kissed me soundly on the lips and walked out of the building.

The desk girl greeted me with a warm smile and then walked me through the spa, highlighting key areas and showing me where the indoor pool, hot tub, and sauna were, all of which I’d have access to in between my treatments.

“You have an hour to relax and enjoy the common areas before your first treatment. Here’s a list of everything you’re scheduled for. ”

“Thank you,” I nodded at the woman, taking the paper, as she left me at the locker room.

“Hey girl!”

I looked over in shock, finding Slade Cooper sitting on the locker room bench, not twenty feet from me. “Slade damn! Hi! I’m so glad you’re here. How did this come to be? Like I know Nico set it up, but you agreed?” I laughed.

“Your man invited me. He came up to the shop to talk. Said it was an all-expenses paid day!” Slade grinned, tossing her long black hair over her shoulder. She stood up and walked over to give me a hug.

“That’s Nico, always over the top.” I shook my head as I stepped back from my friend.

“That’s interesting,” Slade smirked. She reached up and gripped my chin, tilting my face back to look at my neck. “Would you look at that.”

I rolled my eyes and jerked my chin out of Slade’s grasp. “Stop. It’s nothing.”

“A neck full of hickeys and paid day at the spa is not nothing .” Slade chuckled and stepped back.

“He took me to dinner last night too. Got me drunk.”

“To sleep with you?” Slade questioned, her metaphoric hackles immediately raising.

“To get me to spill my secrets.” I sighed and sat on the bench in the center of the locker room.

“And did you?” Slade asked, her bright green eyes sparkling.

“No. Not really.” I deflated, my shoulders dropping. “I told him I couldn’t. He used sex as torture to get me to speak.”

“Hot damn.” Slade let out a breath. “I want that.”

I laughed immediately and shook my head. “It was pretty great…it was like before.”

Slade sighed. “Girl, you’re being so stupid about this. Those men are still head over heels for you. They would kill for you. Why not just let them take care of the problem?”

“Because they would kill for me.” My voice is soft.

Looking away from Slade’s probing gaze, I sighed heavily as tears welled in my amber gaze.

“Last time I thought about telling them, Hillcrest shot both Marcos and Jason, then he framed Nico and had him arrested. He has the power to completely upend my life—Luke’s life—and I’m not willing to risk that.

It’s bad enough I kept Luke away from his father all these years. ”

Slade let a slow breath, like she was biting her tongue and looking for strength to not snap at me. It was something she had to do a lot around me these days. We’ve fought over this very damn topic too many times. “So what did you end up telling Nico last night?”

“Just that I couldn’t say anything. He read between the lines. Kept asking me who was threatening me. He specifically asked about Tish and Dax. I didn’t say anything more than that.”

“Jesus, Maya! That was your fucking out! You should have come clean right then and there! He straight up ASKED YOU if it was Hillcrest!”

I hung my head in shame. “I know. I knooooww.”

“Maya, I love you, but this scares me. You need to come clean. Soon. Or I might just have to get involved.”

I looked over to see the serious set to Slade’s face—the hard gazed leveled on me. Swallowing, I nodded slowly. “I hear you.”

“Good. Because you know I’m usually Switzerland in these things. But you’re putting both you and your son at risk. I can’t sit back and watch it.”

Maya

After our very serious start to the morning, we moved onto easier topics as we both lounged around the pool area and through our treatments.

Some treatments we had next to each other, like manicures and pedicures, and others we had apart like our facials and massages.

For lunch, we ate in the attached restaurant, while sitting in fluffy bathrobes.

In the end, it had been one of the most relaxing days of my life in years.

I couldn’t remember the last time I felt so amazing.

When it was time to go, I asked Slade for a ride home, but Slade laughed.

“Nah boo, your man has that covered too.” Slade pulled out a bag from one of the lockers and handed it to Maya.

“I was told to give you this, threaten you into the dress, and then leave you here. Nico will pick you up for dinner in a bit.”

My mouth dropped open in shock as I slowly reached for the bag. “He really went all out.”

“Sure did. Maybe it’s time you actually talked to him,” Slade hedged again. Thankfully she had let the topic rest since the morning, but now that I was inevitably going to see Nico again, Slade had picked up her pestering again.

“Yeah,” I said almost mindlessly as I opened the bag. I huffed out a laugh as I checked out the contents. Inside there were a pair of black leggings and an oversized t-shirt that I was pretty sure was Nico’s from back in the day, along with clean under garments and a pair of flipflops.

“Alright girl, today was fun. I hope you have a good time tonight.” Slade stood up, now fully dressed and walked toward me.