Page 37 of Brandishing Betrayals (Devil’s Psychos MC #2)

Maya

I paced outside the school summer camp pick up area, waiting for Luke to come out.

I had gotten off work early and called the camp stating I’d pick up Luke instead of sending him on the bus.

When Marcos’s hadn’t brought him back home last night, I was terrified that Marcos was going to try to keep Luke away from me.

When I had texted him last night, Marcos’s reply had been short.

Marcos:

I’ll drop him at camp tomorrow

It was enough, I supposed. I had been so terrified though; my boss had let me leave an hour early to pick up Luke before camp ended. I needed to see my son.

A moment later Luke came walking out with his black hair mused and in need of a haircut and his dark brown eyes soulful and worried. “Mom?” he asked as he walked over to me.

I wrapped him up in a hug, lifting him off the ground. “Oh, my boy!” I cried. “I missed you so much!” I tried to play it off as missing him his weekend away, but knew I was worrying him.

“I missed you too. Mom, are you ok?” Luke asked, pulling away slightly to look at me.

I quickly set him back down and wiped away my tears. “Yes. I just missed you so much.”

“Dad said you had someone at the house that wasn’t safe.” Luke’s hands were still on my shoulders and he met my gaze with a stare that was older than his nine years of age.

I frowned slightly. “Yes. There was someone there that wasn’t safe. It was a good thing your dad took you back to his place. But don’t worry, he won’t be coming back. The house is safe now.”

Luke was watching me warily. “Dad asked if you were dating someone.”

I sighed and shook my head. “No. I’m not dating anyone; it was just an old friend that came by who shouldn’t have. He left right after your dad.”

Luke finally nodded, accepting my explanation. “Alright. Why did you pick me up early?”

“I missed you! I thought I’d get off work early and we could go get ice cream and hang out since you don’t have practice tonight.”

Luke’s whole face lit up as he smiled. “Yes! Awesome! Can we go that place on the river and watch the boats go by?”

“Skully’s? Sure can!” I grinned and high-fived my son.

Maya

Luke and I had a wonderful evening, eating ice cream for dinner and watching the barges and speed boats on the Nevermore River.

Skully’s Ice Cream and Grill was an historical establishment right where the Nevermore River met the Illinois River, about thirty minutes south of Creekton.

The restaurant overlooked the locks, where the water levels were changed so boat could travel from the higher Nevermore River to the lower Illinois River.

The hiking in the area was fantastic as well, and it had been my favorite place to go for day trips since I was old enough to remember. Luke loving the area just made it all the more special.

Now that Luke was in bed, I felt like I could finally relax.

Yesterday had fucked me up mentally and emotionally.

Not only had I had to deal with being sexually assaulted in my own home by Dax fucking Hillcrest, I had to lie to Jason and Marcos about it.

On top of that, I went to bed knowing my son wasn’t in the house, despite almost being dropped off.

My emotions were fucked up and I was exhausted. It was all beginning to pile up on me. It was fucking draining and I just wished I could come clean. But after what Hillcrest put me through yesterday, I knew my guys were lost to me, if I’d ever had a shot with them after all this time.

There was too much hurt there. Too many lies.

I heard a motorcycle coming down the road and looked up. It was dark outside and I couldn’t see, so I grabbed a sweater and walked out the front door, hoping whoever it was knew to park at the end of the driveway as to not wake my parents with the Harley engine.

I had just slipped outside when the bike parked at the end of the driveway and the engine cut off. I wrapped the sweater around me, despite the seventy-degree weather, it was a little cool without the sun out. Walking down the driveway, I wondered which one of them had come for a late-night visit.

I half expected it to be Nico, coming to question me.

I was sure the other two had filled him in on what happened after he left yesterday.

It was a little surprising actually, that he hadn’t been by yet.

Maybe he was waiting until football practice tomorrow evening, where he could corner me without Luke hearing?

I reached the bottom of the driveway as the rider took off his helmet, but didn’t dismount the bike. Marcos set his helmet on the handle bar, before he leaned back and crossed his beefy arms over his chest. He watched me as I moved toward him, not saying a word.

I wasn’t ready for this; I was still too raw. My walls weren’t built back up yet. I wanted more time before I faced Marcos again. I waited for Marcos to speak first.

“I talked to Nico,” he said softly.

I swallowed thickly.

“He told me how you reacted when he confronted you about Hillcrest.” That was the last thing I expected him to start with. I was sure he was going to ask about us sleeping together.

I crossed my own arms over my chest. I needed to push him away, not have him worm his way under my skin again. Not have him ride in and try to save me. “Nico heard what he needed to.” I shrugged.

Marcos glared at me in the dark. I could feel the weight of his scrutiny despite the dim light. “So you could fuck him? That right?”

Again, I shrugged. “Thought I’d hit that for nostalgia sake.”

Marcos let out a sardonic laugh and shook his head. “Jason said you were full of shit.”

Hurt rankled me, but I tried not to show it, grateful for the cover of darkness. “Of course he did.”

“You’re fucking Hillcrest too? Nico gonna have to go get tested because you’re whoring around?”

“Not like he’s a saint either, all the whores the three of you fuck at the clubhouse.”

Marcos chuckled softly. “I thought he was on to something,” Marcos admitted, shaking his head.

He ran a hand over his buzzed hair and sighed.

“He was so damn adamant that you were being threatened by Hillcrest, that everything you’ve done for the last ten years—leaving us—was justified, was fucking worth it.

” Again, he laughed. “Guess the jokes on him, huh? On us again?”

I needed to drive the point home so they’d stop fucking questioning me about this. “Sure is. I left because I didn’t want you anymore. I found out I was pregnant and didn’t want to raise him around you or the club, so I fucking left. I only came back because of my parents’ accident.”

Marcos hand shot out and wrapped around the front of my sweater.

He yanked me roughly against his chest, so I could see his face clearly.

“Maya, I swear to fucking god, if you’re lying and it turns out Nico’s right—Mi Vida.

” He choked out the word as emotion clogged his voice.

“Tell me please. Is Hillcrest threatening you?”

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep my emotions in check. I wasn’t strong enough for this. “Marc—”

He cradled my face with both hands and kissed me, claiming my mouth and owning me as he kissed me passionately.

My hands gripped his forearms, holding on as he held my face. I kissed him back, holding his arms tight and moaning softly. Abruptly, I pulled away from him breathless, as I put space between us. “Don’t.”

“I know you still fucking feel that,” Marcos growled, stepping toward me. “Don’t fucking lie to me.”

“Stop looking for something that’s not there anymore. I left you. I’m with Dax now, stop pushing.”

“But you still slept with Nic on Saturday. Classy, Henderson.” He glared down at me.

I rolled my eyes. “You should go.” I was already backing away from him though, before he could answer. I turned my back on him and headed for the house, ending the conversation.

“This isn’t over,” Marcos called to me as I reached the house.

I ignored him and slipped back inside, closing and locking the door behind me.

Marcos

I drove a couple blocks over to where Kara’s house was.

Funny, that Maya and Kara only lived a couple blocks from each other and never saw or spoke to each other anymore.

How did people that used to be best friends, grow so far apart, I wondered.

Probably the same way Maya grew so far apart from me and the guys. She changed and left us all behind.

I drove up the long driveway at Kara’s place—Johnny’s place—and parked my bike in front of the garage. It was late on a Monday night, but I saw the lights on inside, and knew it was still an hour or two before my sister would be going to sleep.

I knocked softly on the back door as I let myself in the house through the mudroom attached to the kitchen. Kevin was in the kitchen, washing bottles from the looks of things as I walked in. “Hey man,” Kevin said, glancing at me over his shoulder. “You good?”

I immediately shook my head. I kicked off my shoes in the mud room, lining them up on a rubber mat, along the wall with the other boots.

I walked into the kitchen and over to Kara’s liquor cabinet.

I helped myself to her bottle of Macallan, grabbing a glass out of a cabinet next to where Kevin was washing dishes.

Pouring myself two fingers of whisky, I quickly tossed it back.

“That bad?” Kevin asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sighing heavily, I poured himself another two fingers of whisky, before I put the top back on the bottle and walked over to the island. I sat down with my whisky and shook my head.

“Marcos?” Kara’s voice came from behind him, and I glanced over my shoulder to see her walking down the stairs with Johnny and Derrick behind her.

“Hey, Lil Manita,” I greeted her, raising my glass.

“Fuck,” she swore softly as she walked over.

I didn’t see Lilah anywhere and glanced around the living room, realizing the baby wasn’t in the room.

“We just put her down,” Johnny said. “You good, man?”

“Not really,” I grumbled.