Page 15

Fifteen

I’d be miserable too if I were a princess stuck inside a man’s body.

— Chevy to Cutter

CHEVY

When I next woke, it was with the knowledge that, despite being sick as a dog, I was the most comfortable I’d ever been.

I blinked one eye open to see a riot of crazy auburn hair a little bit of everywhere.

The other thing I noticed was that I was sweating profusely.

I forced myself to let her go and got up, feeling only remotely better.

I checked my phone and saw that I had about thirty missed calls, but it was the time that had me worrying.

“Shit,” I said as I turned around. “Baby, wake up. You have to be at work.”

Aella startled and sat bolt upright, trying to orient herself.

“It’s six,” I said. “You have an hour to get to work.”

She scrambled out of the bed, throwing her hair out of her face as she went.

It was the cutest thing ever.

“Sorry,” I said. “I should’ve set an alarm.”

She smiled and passed me on the way to the bathroom.

I turned to watch her quickly dress in her scrubs from yesterday, shucking the t-shirt as she did, giving me a great view of her ample ass and shapely thighs.

God, she was magnificent.

And frazzled.

She got dressed, finger-combed her hair, and then turned to survey me. “I really have to pee.”

Then she shut the door in my face.

I smiled despite being exhausted and waited for her to finish before going in there myself.

When I came out, it was to find her setting out more medicine and on the phone.

“Yes, he’s down with the flu,” she said. “He won’t be in probably for the next four to five days. Thanks, Dru.”

She looked up when I came out and said, “I called in for you.”

“Thanks,” I grimaced. “I should’ve done that an hour ago.”

“You do what you can,” she said. “But I took care of it.”

She sat down on the bed to slip into her shoes and asked, “Do you need anything before I go?”

“No. I think you got me pretty well stocked up.”

I’d noticed the plethora of food on the nightstand.

“If you get tired of staying here, you can always come to my place. I have the next three days off and can take care of you.” Her face flamed after she said that.

It was so cute that I almost teased her about it, but I wasn’t sure if she would be super embarrassed by it if I did, so I left it alone.

“I just might,” I said. “This place never stops.”

She stood up and pulled out a set of keys.

She slipped one key off the ring and said, “This time if you come, you don’t have to break in.”

I grinned weakly and said, “Couldn’t pick that lock even if I wanted to right now.”

She pulled away and said, “Call me if you need anything.”

Then she was gone, leaving me all alone.

I sat down on the bed and ate the blueberry muffin that was front and center, taking several breaks as I did.

Only after I’d finished did I start to return calls.

The first one was to Cutter, since he was the last to call.

“Dude, we have a situation,” he said as I answered.

“What kind of situation?” I asked.

“Are you sick?” he questioned instead of explaining.

“As a dog,” I admitted. “I can barely stand up.”

“Oh.” He paused. “I’ll talk to you later then. It’s not very important.”

I shrugged and said, “Later.”

The next call was to Copper, who didn’t answer.

The final call was to Keely, who answered before immediately sounding like she was throwing up.

“Uhhh,” I wondered. “You okay?”

“Probably better than you,” she affirmed. “Why do you sound like that?”

“Flu,” I explained. “Why did you throw up when you answered?”

“I’m a sensitive bitch.” She grumbled.

I grinned. “That sounds like fun.”

“It’s not.” She exhaled. “I was calling to see if you knew what was going on with Copper, but I doubt you know.”

“I don’t.” I paused, thoughts swirling. “Reign was here last night, though, so maybe it has something to do with her.”

“It might,” she sighed, sounding completely exhausted. “Maybe I’ll call her.”

“Give him a few days,” I said. “I’ll ask the guys, though. They’re too nosy not to know at least something.”

“Are you at the clubhouse?” she asked. “When I talked to Cutter this morning, he said your truck was gone and your bike was getting hammered by rain and hail.”

I sighed. “Yeah, I drove here last night because the rocking of the houseboat was making me nauseous.”

She snickered. “I told you not to go with that houseboat.”

“It’s easy.” I yawned. “I’m headed over to a friend’s place, though. The clubhouse is too loud, and every time they turn on the coffee grinder my head starts to pound.”

“I’ll have Dima move the bike for you,” she said. “After I’m done throwing up, that is.”

“Did you clean the toilet before you threw up in it?” I asked.

There was a long pause and then, “No.”

“You know I took a shit in there two days ago,” I teased. “You’re probably resting your face on my ass residue.”

There was a long moment of silence and then, “I’m going to fucking kill you one day. In your sleep. I’ll make it look natural so no one questions how it happened. Isn’t that one of the most cowardly ways to die, according to history? In your sleep? Shows how ‘viral’ you are.”

I would’ve laughed had a wave of nausea not rolled over me.

“Gotta go,” I said. “My turn to throw up now.”

And let’s just say, friends.

When men throw up, it’s not quiet.

I had four club brothers in and out of my room in the ten minutes I spent in the bathroom, and it was when Doc finally made his appearance that I decided that I would take Aella up on that offer of her place after all.

I’d been at Aella’s place for two hours when I heard the door open.

I blinked open crusty eyes and listened.

Movement.

Shuffling.

Voices.

“Oh, thank you so much for opening my daughter’s door,” I heard replied. “I know that you didn’t have to, but I really appreciate it. I want to surprise her with dinner for her birthday.”

“I see the cake there,” a man replied. “That’s awfully sweet of you. My mom would’ve never surprised me with birthday dinner.”

“I just love my kids,” Trini lied.

That fuckin’ bitch.

“I’ll leave you to it. Let me know if you’ll be needing anything else,” the man returned.

“Oh, I will,” Trini replied, sounding so sickly sweet that even my teeth hurt.

Though, that might be the flu currently ravaging my body.

Either way, I waited until I heard the door close before I got up out of bed and grabbed my Glock before rounding the corner of the bed and aiming for the living room.

“Stupid fuckin’ bitch,” Trini snarled the moment the door closed. “You’re so fuckin’ easy it’s unreal.”

She walked to the cake that I’d bought for Aella a few days ago and reached down to dig her finger through the icing, but I stopped her before the disgusting digit could touch my girl’s cake.

“Stop,” I said carefully, the lethargy in my arms making it extremely hard to hold up the gun in my hand.

Trini whirled around, the cake lid dropping down over the cake as she did and stared in shock.

“Didn’t expect anyone to be here?” I chuckled. “Your bad.”

“I…” She trailed off when I gestured for her to take a seat at the kitchen table with the gun.

She sat heavily, her eyes wide, and stared at me in shock.

I could practically see her wheels turning.

She was going to try to get away, but I wouldn’t be letting her this time.

I walked up behind her and placed my gun to her head.

“I should shoot you,” I said, sounding just as unfeeling as I’d meant to. “Take you out of your daughters’ lives so you don’t ruin them anymore than you already have.”

There was a long moment of silence and then, “I haven’t done shit.”

“You have,” I disagreed as I caught the string of the apron that was hanging beside the kitchen sink on the wall. “But I’m not going to sit here and argue with you.”

I quickly tied her wrists behind her to the chair, making sure to make it tight so there was no way she would get out.

Then I shoved the gun into my waistband and headed back to the bedroom where my phone was charging next to Aella’s bed.

The person I’d called answered within two rings.

“Hey, Chevy. Heard you weren’t feeling well. What’s up?” Cakes asked.

“Cakes,” I drawled. “I have something you might want to come take a look at. Use my location.”

There was a long pause and then he hissed in a breath. “It’s Aella’s place.”

Over the last week that I’d started to get to know Aella, I’d had a long talk with Cakes, and he knew as well as I did that it was possible that Aella was his daughter. One that his wife had hidden from him.

Though, if I was a betting man, Trini had just as much of a part in hiding Aella’s existence from him as his ex-wife had.

I sat there and waited, slowly polishing off a bottle of water as I did, watching her squirm as she slowly came to the realization that she was well and truly fucked.

The knock came at the door, and I moved to it, making sure to keep Trini in my line of sight as I did.

She froze when Cakes walked through the door.

“Surprise, shorty!” I joked.

Goddamn, I couldn’t get those video sayings out of my head sometimes.

Cakes came in, but he didn’t shut the door.

When I looked behind him, I understood why.

Jasper, a.k.a. “Hush,” was the newest member of our MC.

He’d come from a couple of places, but the most recent place was New Orleans, Louisiana where he’d decided that being a cop wasn’t for him any longer.

The man was scarred as hell from a fire he’d been in years ago, and when we first met him, he’d confronted us for staring.

At first, we hadn’t trusted him all that much, but over time, he’d grown on us. He’d started out just being friends with Webber, having met when Jasper had applied to work for Webber at his automotive repair shop, Webb’s.

For the longest time, we’d been wary of Jasper because he didn’t say anything.

Like, not a fuckin’ thing.

That’s how he got his nickname, Hush.

But over time, as Jasper got to know the Truth Tellers, he’d started to open up.

Not a lot.

But enough that we began to trust him, despite his previous occupation as a police officer.

Now, it was like he’d always been there.

He worked with one of our other newest members with the club, Gunner ‘Jinx’ Penn at Gunner’s business, Angel Security. Though, he still helped out at Webber’s place when Webber needed the help.

I was surprised to find him with Cakes, though.

Hush tended to avoid One Love, Dallas.

I wasn’t sure why, but he didn’t want anything to do with the charity.

“Hush,” I said quietly. “What are you doing here?”

“Was meeting with Cakes.” He shrugged.

“When I found out where you were, I felt like I might need a hand,” Cakes replied, his eyes zeroing in on Trini.

When his gaze caught hers, his lip curled.

Trini’s face went paler, if that was even possible, seeing as it’d gone ghostly white the moment Cakes walked through the door.

“What’s going on?” Cakes asked, sounding deadly.

“Well, she decided to break into Aella’s place again while I was here, and I’m fuckin’ exhausted fightin’ off the flu. Figured you could do the honors, seeing as you’ve got some questions you want to ask anyway,” I informed him quietly, taking a seat on the couch and lying back on it.

I could see everything from my position, which was good because I didn’t want to miss the show, sick or not.

“Trini,” Cakes said. “Long time no see. What’s it been? Twenty-five years?”

Trini, unsurprisingly, didn’t answer.

“I have questions, and you’re going to answer them,” Cakes said as he took the chair across the table from Trini.

Trini glared hard.

“I know about your operation,” he said. “I know that you’re a con artist. I know that you’ve been stealing from your daughters their entire life. I know that you’ve taken out multiple loans in their names, ruined their credit, and done countless other atrocities to them that makes it near impossible to live their lives.”

Trini still stayed silent, even though there was a burn solidifying in my chest that had nothing to do with the flu.

“I know that you’re doing something else with their information, like something that’s going to blow back on them and really fuck them over. That’s why you keep going to their houses looking for something, but you haven’t found it yet. What is it that you’re looking for?”

Trini remained silent.

“Let’s start with the easy questions then,” Cakes said when she kept her mouth shut. “Is she mine?”

Trini grinned. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

Cakes crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back.

“Hush, could you give Apollo a call?” Cakes asked casually. “I think I need to go ahead and show her what happens when she doesn’t answer a question.”

Jasper pulled out his phone and rang Apollo, who answered sounding very chipper.

“Holy shit, Hush. You’re calling me? Is the world ending?” Apollo cried.

“It’s actually me,” Cakes said. “Hey, you know that account you got into a few days ago for me?”

“Sure do,” Apollo replied.

“I need you to get into it again. Drain everything,” Cakes said.

“Like, all million dollars?” he asked. “Where do you want it to go?”

“Put it in Chevy’s account for now. He can transfer it over when she gets her own bank account,” he said. “It’s her money anyway, seeing as her mother kept taking out loans in her name.”

That had anger once again churning in my gut.

Was she still doing it?

“I haven’t touched their shit in years. They have a freeze on their credit,” Trini tried. “That’s actually my money.”

“It’s interest and repayment for the loans you took out when Aella was nine,” Cakes replied. “Or, possibly, the one that you took out in her name when she was fifteen.”

“I had to keep the lights on and the bills paid.” Trini rolled her eyes, as if she couldn’t care less that she’d ruined her daughter’s life.

“What about the checks that you got in her name? The ones that almost sent her to jail?” Cakes asked curiously.

“Those weren’t my fault, either.”

Cakes leaned forward and pulled Trini’s phone out of her pocket, then said, “Hey, Apollo. What’s Trini’s code?”

“3783,” Apollo answered distractedly. “All done.”

Cakes started to sift through stuff on Trini’s phone, then tapped something and said, “And her bank account password?”

Apollo gave that next.

“How is it,” Cakes asked, “that this girl has no access to a bank account, nor does her sister, but you do?”

Trini shifted in her chair uncomfortably.

“Ahh, that big fat zero looks nice in there, doesn’t it?” Cakes asked as he set the phone down on the table in front of her.

Trini froze.

“Now, start from the beginning, or we’ll start going through your accounts, one by one, even the off shore ones that have quadruple what this one had,” Cakes ordered.

“She’s yours,” Trini said. “Your wife, Cally, asked me to not tell you. Which, honestly, worked out in my favor. If you’d known her, I wouldn’t have been able to use her like I wanted to.”

The sneer in her voice had me sitting up on the couch, ready to launch myself at her.

Hush stepped into the space between me and Trini, not blocking my view, but getting enough in the way that let me know that he’d stop me before I could take her out.

He was right, though.

We needed information, and the stupid cunt sitting at that table was the only one that could give it to us.

No, I couldn’t kill her just yet.

I leaned back against the cushions, waiting.

“And what did Cally give you in exchange for not telling me about Aella?” he asked. “And you do know, right, that Aella was my mom’s name?”

Fuck.

Yet another brick sliding into place.

“I do.” Trini smirked. “Why do you think I named her that?”

I saw Cakes’s thighs tighten, as if he was holding himself back.

“And she gave me a diamond ring,” she said. “One that was apparently your mother’s. Netted me quite a fuckin’ bit of money, too.”

Fuck.

I’d heard all about that diamond ring.

It’d been worth millions, according to Cakes.

And Cally had ‘lost’ it about two years into their marriage.

I saw Cakes’ jaw work as he tried and failed to gain his composure.

Before anyone could blink, he’d leaned over the table and dragged her, chair and all, up over the table so that he could get into her face.

“So not only did you steal my daughter away from me, but you also stole my inheritance?” He laughed sardonically. “I don’t care what I have to do to you, Trini Cowan. But I’ll spend the rest of my life making sure that yours is miserable.”