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CHAPTER FOURTEEN

MARLEY

Monday mornings are the worst.

I didn’t want to get out of bed. I especially didn’t want to get up this morning. Mainly because I’d been enjoying the warmth of Griz’s arms around me. Other than getting up to eat, we stayed in my bed for the rest of the weekend, and it had been completely and totally marvelous.

Even now, I could still feel the luxurious aches all over my body even after getting up, getting dressed, then going to work, mostly between my legs. I didn’t think a man could go as many times in a day as Griz went. Each time had been different. Several times, he’d taken me slow, built a burn inside me I didn’t think he’d be able to extinguish or grow even higher. Regardless, Griz did. Other times, he took me fast. However he took me, it didn’t matter. I enjoyed every bit of it. My favorite part had to be when I rode him. It was my favorite because he’d grip hold of me while he sat up, kissing me.

I didn’t want to leave him this morning, but he also had to get to the clubhouse, saying he had shit to do. I didn’t know what he did for the club and honestly, I wasn’t sure I cared. I’m sure he’ll let me know what he does when he’s ready. I, for one, won’t be demanding he tell me, considering I get club life, though I’ve never lived it. It’s just that I’ve been around men like him all my life.

The only men who filled me in on everything were Grail and Bash, only because I’d been part of the team. Technically, I still was a part of it.

I sometimes miss working alongside them; however, I don’t think I’d ever be able to move back. In a short amount of time, I’ve come to find this town my home.

I love being able to go to the diner and chat with Deloris when I’m grabbing dinner. I enjoy being able to see my grandma more often. Granted, I ended up canceling on her this weekend. She seemed fine with it. She said she was going to play bingo at the community center. I didn’t even know she played bingo.

My phone shrills its loud ringtone I have set for my dad and mom when they call, pulling me out of my thoughts. Sighing, I press the answer button on my steering wheel as I drive through town toward my destination. I had papers to serve, and I wasn’t looking forward to it. This isn’t the first time I’ve served this particular person with papers, and it’s never pleasant. Not that he’s done anything wrong, but he’s always an ass about it.

“Marley?” Dad calls before I manage to greet him.

“Yes, Dad, I’m here, what’s up?”

Turning the wheel, I pull into the establishment’s parking lot and park.

“Just checkin’ in. You’ve been dodging calls all weekend.”

“I wasn’t dodging calls. I was just busy.”

No way was I going to answer the phone while I enjoyed the pleasure of being in Griz’s arms. My dad has a sixth sense about things he needs not to know.

“Okay, but before this weekend, you’d been keeping your calls short, not barely talking. Can’t fix things when you don’t talk, darlin’.”

“Everything’s fine, Dad, I’m good. Y’all are good. Nothing to fix.”

The only way anything was going to be fixed was if I could find the person responsible and put both my parents’ minds at ease.

“That’s bullshit, Lee-Lee, and you know it,” Dad remarks, not pussy footing around. “You came home and brought up a subject that is best left in the past. Neither your mom nor I handled it the way we should?—”

I totally wasn’t in the mood to have this talk with my dad right now. “Dad, I get you want to talk right now, but I’m in the middle of some things and can’t really talk about this.”

I didn’t want to talk about it at all right now. Not until I solved who was behind it.

Dad doesn’t say anything for a while, and I thought he might’ve hung up at first until I looked at the screen.

Nope, he’s still there.

“Dad?” I murmur his name.

“We’ve got to talk about this, darlin’.”

“And we will. I just can’t right now. I’ll give you a call later when I’m not busy.”

I mentally put it on my to-do list right after going to the grocery store. Griz is coming back later, and we’re having dinner together. Tomorrow, he said we were going to eat at the diner together, and he’s already filled me in that Friday I would be on the back of his bike going to the clubhouse for a party. I wasn’t sure I wanted to do this or not.

“Right,” Dad grunts. “If you don’t call me back, Lee-Lee, you’ll force me to get your siblings involved, and you know how much you hate when they get involved.”

Now, that was just a whole other level of just plain ol’ wrong.

“Dad, there’s no reason to draw Marshall or Marla into this. There’s nothing for them to get involved in, as it were.”

I didn’t need or want the headache of those two. I love my big brother and little sister, but we’re all like oil and water most of the time. We fight and argue constantly when we’re put in the same room with each other. It didn’t matter where we were. We could be in the middle of a restaurant and start arguing. Marshall thought because he was the big brother he was right and that he had a say in just about everything in my life. Marla, being the baby, she figured she could get her way with just about anything.

Me, on the other hand, I refused to let either of them think they could pull their stunts with me. I wasn’t going to let it happen. One time, we all ended up in a food fight. If it weren’t for the fact the owner was sitting right there and was good friends with my parents, he’d probably have been far more pissed than he actually had been. It was just plain luck that the cops didn’t arrest us.

“You know I’ve got no shame in callin’ a family meeting, Marley. I’ll do it, and in doing so, I’ll bring them into it to have it resolved.”

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I let out a sigh. “I promise, Dad, I’ll call you back, and we’ll talk. Okay?”

“All right, darlin’. I’ll wait for your call. But be warned, you don’t call this evening, I’m callin’ the family meeting.”

“I’ll call.”

I finish the conversation and hang up, more than glad to have gotten off the phone. My dad wasn’t an old man in the least bit. He was fit and could take on anything or one, but the fact he didn’t take on the stalker my mom had, has me questioning what exactly happened back then. For them, I should drop it, but I’m not. I can’t. I need to know.

Right now, though, I need to not worry about any of that. I push the thoughts away, grab the envelope, turn my car off, and get out. It’s time to get on with the day and get it over with. I have better things to look forward to. All of which I couldn’t wait for.

I couldn’t be happier to finish the day out. All I wanted to do was get home, run a bath, and enjoy a nice and relaxing soak. Some days, I hate serving papers to people. They seem to go along with the ‘kill the messenger’ saying.

Unfortunately, my car starts acting weird. It stutters and starts to shake. It gets bad enough that I pull off to the side of the road. I’m not one to neglect my car. I always make sure to have the tires rotated every six months or after putting so many miles on them, whichever comes first. My oil gets changed every ten thousand miles only because I use an oil meant for that mileage. Tune-ups are done regularly.

My dad always drilled it into us to always take care of our cars, and I’ve made sure to do just that. Nothing should be wrong with my car now.

I put the car in park, pop the hood, and barely get out before my entire car goes up in a ball of fire. The force of the explosion throws me backward onto the road. My body collides with asphalt. By no means was it a pleasant collision. It hurts.

I’m lucky that no other cars were close enough, otherwise I’d be dead right about now, not just feeling a bad case of road rash.

Getting to my feet, all I can do is watch what used to be my car burn in front of me.

“Oh my God, are you okay?” a woman shouts from behind me.

Slowly, I turn to face the woman in question as more people stop. Sirens could be heard in the distance, but I couldn’t focus in on those. My ears were ringing, and my body hurt.

Regardless of all of that, one question pops into my head. How the hell did this happen? My car shouldn’t be a ball of smoke right now. I should be getting home for a bath.

“Marley.”

I hear my name being shouted as the sirens grow near.I twist to see not only Griz but several other men rushing in my direction.

“Griz,” I whisper, unable to move. I couldn’t if I wanted to. I felt cemented in place.

The instant he gets to me, I find myself drawn into his arms, one arm going around my waist, the other coming up for his fingers to curl into my hair.

“Fuck, Marley, you okay?” he murmurs, his lips brushing against my forehead.

“I’m okay.” I really wasn’t, but I was alive. “What are you doing here?”

“Was on the road heading back to the clubhouse. Saw all the traffic and the fire, we wanted to know what the hell was going on. Saw you standing here and had to get to you.”

That’s sweet.

“We need to get her checked out,” another guy says softly from next to him. “Ambulance is pulling up now.”

“Right,” Griz mutters, releasing me only to guide me farther away from the wreckage and toward the ambulance. “Let’s get you checked, sweets.”

I simply nod, but my gaze is drawn back to the wreckage.

“My car,” I murmur softly.

“Don’t worry about that right now, baby,” Griz says just as gently.

“But . . .”

“Marley, sweets, let’s just worry about you getting looked over right now. We’ll talk about your car later.”

“Okay.” I nod as one of the paramedics rushes toward us.

Griz lets me go so they can look me over, though he doesn’t move too far away. He stays close, and I appreciate him for doing just that.

I don’t know what happened here today with my car. It freaks me out because it can’t be a coincidence that this would happen days after my house was broken into and the message was left for me on my dresser mirror. I guess whoever it was isn’t playing games with me after all.