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Chapter nineteen

Mika

I got up early the next morning and snuck out of bed. Waking up without me made my Daddy grumpy—something I found adorable—but Mars and Andy were coming over today, and I wanted to make sure the condo was clean before they came. Plus, I was planning to fix us a nice lunch and maybe some brownies as well, so that meant I needed to get a move on.

I should’ve done it yesterday instead of binge-watching baking shows and feeling sorry for myself, but I didn’t. Sometimes past-me didn’t make the best choices, and present me had to deal with them. This was one of those times.

I made French toast because Hawk really seemed to like it. Plus, it would be quick and easy so I could get started on other things.

By the time he came into the kitchen looking all pouty, I had breakfast ready and had cleaned both the kitchen and the spare bathroom.

“You left me in bed,” he grumbled.

“I did, but I made you French toast.”

“With strawberries?”

“Of course.” I opened the oven and pulled out the plate of French toast. “The guys are coming today, and I had things I needed to get done before they came.”

“Like what?” He headed straight for the coffee pot while I put all the food on the kitchen island. He had both a dining room table and a breakfast nook, but for the most part, we sat at the island. It was just easier.

“I needed to make sure everything was clean. I couldn’t have them coming here to this amazing place and have it be all dirty and nasty.”

He took a seat on the stool in front of the food and then turned to look at me. “Mika, this place has never been so clean. I swear having you here is like having a live-in housekeeper. I don’t know what could’ve possibly been dirty and nasty.”

I pushed the bowl of macerated strawberries his way, and he spooned a bunch of them on top of his French toast. “I just wanted everything to be clean for them, that’s all. And trust me, that spare bathroom needed a good cleaning.”

“You’ve already done it?” he asked.

“Well, yeah. That’s why I got up early, even if I’d rather stay in bed with you.” I didn’t know if it was the forkful of sugary goodness he’d just eaten or the comment, but his face softened, and he smiled at me. “Plus, I have to make our lunch and maybe a sweet treat as well.”

“I’m going to go downstairs and try to get some work done while your friends are here. I’ve been shirking some of my duties this last week, so it’ll give me a chance to catch up.”

“I’m so sorry. I know I’m not paying you, and you have a job to do—”

“Stop. You have nothing to be sorry about. Wolfe will tell you I’m pretty bad at doing that stuff, no matter what’s going on. Now, let’s go back to this sweet treat business. What are you going to make?”

Something else I’d learned about Hawk was that he had a serious sweet tooth. “I was thinking turtle brownies, maybe. I’m pretty sure I have everything I need.”

He stood up and came around the island to stand in front of me. “Are you going to save me some?”

“Of course I am.”

“Good boy,” he purred before pulling me close and giving me a proper good morning kiss.

I melted against him, all my plans for the day fading away—but luckily for me, he did a better job of remembering we had things to do today. He pulled back and grinned at me.

“I’m going to hit the gym downstairs before I start working, so you can find me there if you need anything.”

“Okay, but I should be all set.”

“Thanks for breakfast, mouse. Enjoy your day with your friends.”

I was oh-so-tempted to tell him I’d call them and cancel if he wanted to spend the day here, but he was already behind on work because of me. Plus, I really did want to see Andy and Mars.

A couple hours later, I was pulling a double batch of brownies out of the oven when there was a knock on the door. I pulled it open and was immediately engulfed in a hug.

I laughed and hugged Andy back. When he let me go, I stepped back and motioned for them to come in.

“This building is fancy,” Mars said. “Hawk had to bring us up in the elevator because he said it wouldn’t go up here without his thumbprint.”

“Yeah, that’s why he thinks it’s safer for me to be here right now.”

“I would think so,” Andy said. “There was a person at the desk downstairs who took our names and checked them against a list before calling Hawk to come get us. No one’s getting in here uninvited.”

They followed me into the living room, and Mars stopped in the middle of the massive open space and looked around. “Wow. Samuel said this used to be some store’s corporate office. I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t this. This is amazing.”

“It’s really nice. Apparently, Gator’s condo is a mirror image of this one, and Wolfe’s is in the middle. I haven’t been in either one, though. That’s just what Hawk told me.”

Andy walked over to the windows and looked out. “It’s impressive.”

“Do you miss it? Living in a place like this, I mean?” Andy and Jesse lived in a small house across the street from Jesse’s grandmother, but Andy had grown up with money, so a place like this was much more what he was used to.

“Not at all. I wouldn’t trade living across from Gigi for anything.”

“She’s pretty awesome,” I agreed.

“She is. Now show us around and then feed me. This place smells like a bakery.”

A few hours later, we’d blown through the lunch I’d prepared, at least half of one of the batches of brownies and two bottles of wine.

“I guess we should get going,” Mars said, pulling out his phone. “I’ll order our ride.”

While Mars was doing that, Andy looked at me. “I’m glad you’re safe, and it was good to see you.”

“It was good to see you guys, too. I hate that Caleb had to work.”

“He hated it, too,” Andy said. “Don’t be surprised if he shows up with a stack of books to keep you occupied if this goes on much longer.”

“I hope it doesn’t. I’m really tired of being cooped up here in the condo.”

“I bet you are, but Samuel says Hawk is the best at what he does and that he’ll fix all of this for you.”

Mars looked so confident—that because Samuel said it, it must be true—that I couldn’t help but smile.

“I know he’s doing his best to find Butch and put an end to all of it.”

“We should plan a dinner party when it’s over. Samuel would love to have Hawk, Jesse, and Keith all come hang out.”

“We’ll do that.”

A few minutes later, Mars got the notification that their car was there. Andy promised to come hang out again the next time he wasn’t on shift. They both gave me a hug, and then they left.

It had been so nice having people here in the house, and now that they were gone, it was so quiet.

I went into the kitchen to put everything away and noticed the extra pan of brownies sitting on the counter. We’d only eaten half of the first batch, so there was still plenty left in it for Hawk. He’d mentioned that the guys liked to hang out together in the common area on the ninth floor when they weren’t working, and this was Saturday, so there might be someone down there who’d like a brownie, and if no one was there, I’d just leave them for them to eat later.

I went to the study and dug around in Hawk’s desk until I found a piece of paper. I wrote a nice little note telling them where the brownies came from and included a little warning that they included nuts, just to be safe. I covered the pan with foil and taped the note on top.

I shoved my phone in my pocket and made sure I had my card so I could get back up to the condo, then headed down to the ninth floor. When I stepped off the elevator, it sounded like there was a party going on. Music was playing, people were talking, and someone was shouting that some idiot was going to get everyone killed. That came from one of the guys sitting on the couch with a game controller in his hands and a headset on, so obviously, no one was in real danger.

I’d met a few of them before—either at the self-defense class or down in the ops center the day Hawk brought me in—but some of them I’d never seen before. Tucker and Gator were sitting at the poker table playing with a man with a beard and tattooed hands I didn’t know and the twin with the short hair. I couldn’t remember if he was Axel or Maddox. He looked up and grinned when he saw me.

“Mika, it’s about time you came down to hang out with us.”

Everyone except the guy yelling at the video game stopped what they were doing to look at me.

“I just came down to see if y’all wanted these,” I said weakly, holding out the baking dish. I really hadn’t thought this many people would be here in the middle of the afternoon, so I hadn’t been prepared at all.

Tucker hopped up from her seat at the poker table and walked to me. “What do you have in there?”

“It’s, um, brownies. They do have nuts, though, so if you’re allergic, you should know that.”

“Well, I’m in the clear ’cause I love me some nuts,” Gator said.

“That’s what he said,” the guy who was gaming called out, looking over his shoulder—and I realized he was the other twin.

Tucker rolled her eyes. “Ignore them. What kind of brownies are they?”

“Turtle. They have chocolate, salted caramel, and toasted pecans.”

“Those sound great.” The guy from the table I didn’t know stood up. “I’m Crowe, by the way. I don’t think we’ve met.”

“We haven’t, but Hawk has told me about you. You live out at the camp, right?”

“I do, but I have an apartment here, too. When I don’t have classes out at the camp, I stay up here so I can take these assholes’ money.”

He reached for the baking dish, and I handed it over. He pulled back the foil covering and whistled. “Damn, those look good.”

“You better save one for me, Maddox,” the one who was obviously Axel said.

“If you want a damn brownie, you can stop playing your game and get over here and get one.” Maddox got up and tried to take the brownies from Crowe, who had no intention of giving them up.

“You only say that because you don’t want me to beat your high score, and you know I’m about to.”

Everyone in the room was rolling their eyes and shaking their heads at them, so I guessed this was normal behavior for the brothers—and I had to admit, it was entertaining.

“Mika, will you please save me a brownie? I’m on a mission to prove my superior shooting skills, and it would be just like that numb-nut to punish me by eating all the yummy goodness you brought for us to feast on.”

OMG. Drama much?

I laughed, but I promised to save him one. He quickly declared me a prince amongst men before yelling into his headset that someone was a piss stain and if they cost him the top spot, he would never play with them again.

Hawk

I hadn’t been kidding when I told Mika I was behind on a lot of my paperwork, but I couldn’t focus on boring admin stuff when I should be working on finding out where Butch and his guys were hiding out.

I spent the day making phone calls and trying to find someone who’d seen them. Unfortunately, I didn’t find anyone who knew where they were. I’d spent the last few days going from place to place looking for Butch and his crew and hadn’t had any luck so far. I was starting to get really frustrated with the whole situation. How hard could it be to find a group of bikers in a city the size of Vesper?

Around four or so, I decided to call it a day. I had one thing I wanted to run by the twins first, though. They were like chameleons and were great at fitting in just about anywhere, so I thought maybe they’d have more luck at some of the bars around town. It was Saturday afternoon, so odds were, if they were in the building, I’d find them upstairs playing video games.

I shut down my computer and then headed for the ninth floor. I’d expected to find a fair number of the Three Bears employees there hanging out, but what I hadn’t expected was to find Mika at the poker table with a stack of chips and a grin on his face.

Crowe looked at me and shook his head. “You could’ve warned us.”

“Warned you?”

“Yeah, your boy looks so sweet. It never occurred to me he was a shark in disguise.”

“I’m not a shark. You just underestimated me. That’s my superpower.” Mika laughed. “And I raise you twenty.” He casually tossed a chip in the pot, and Crowe shook his head.

“You’re in trouble with this one. He has no tells. I can’t tell if he’s bluffing or not.”

I looked at him. Crowe might not be able to tell if he had a good hand or not, but I could. I recognized that mischievous twinkle in his eye—that told me he was totally bluffing. Not that I’d tell them that.

I loved seeing my friends treat him like he belonged—not that I expected any less from them. I pulled up a chair beside him and took a seat to watch my boy take their money. Sure enough, by the time the hand ended, they’d all folded, and he raked in the chips. I didn’t feel bad for a single one of them, though. My guess was when he sat down to play, they all assumed he’d be an easy mark.

“Are you done working for the day?” he asked.

“I am.”

“Okay, that’s it for me then, guys. It was fun, though. Thanks for letting me play.”

“Ah, I see how you are. You came in here with brownies to soften us up, then you take all our money and leave without giving us a chance to win it back.”

“You brought them the brownies? I thought you were going to save them for me.”

He reached over and patted my arm. “Don’t worry, big guy. I made extra. There are plenty upstairs for you.”

I leaned over and brushed a kiss across his lips. “Are you ready?”

“I am.” He stood up from the table and started to walk away.

“Hold up, don’t you want your winnings?”

He froze and turned back to the table. “Winnings? What do you mean, winnings? Were we playing for real money?”

Gator laughed and shook his head. “Yeah, we were playing for real money. That’s why I said I’d spot you when you showed up since you didn’t have any money with you.”

He looked up at me, eyes wide. “I thought it was just for chips. I didn’t know it was for real money. What if I lost?”

“Then Hawk would’ve covered you,” Crowe said. “We weren’t worried.”

“I sure wouldn’t have bluffed so much if I’d known.”

“Well, it’s good you didn’t know then because you did pretty good.” I turned to the guys at the table. “Now y’all pay up so I can go upstairs and have a brownie.”

“Can I come? ’Cause I want another brownie,” Maddox asked.

“Yay, my brownies bring all the boys to the yard.” Mika grinned.

“Well, I’m the only boy who should be eating your brownies from now on. So these assholes are just out of luck,” I growled.

Axel looked back over his shoulder at us. “Please tell me we’re not talking about Mika’s actual brownies because I’m gonna need more of those—and soon—’cause they were seriously good.”

“I’ll make you more brownies, I promise. Now, Hawk, let’s go home.”

I knew he didn’t mean home the way that sounded, but I loved hearing him call my condo his home. At some point, we’d have to talk about me not wanting him to leave, but now wasn’t the time.

“Maddox, Axel, do you two have plans for tonight?”

“I don’t,” they both said at the same time.

“Great. Would the two of you go out tonight and make the rounds of the biker bars? See if you can get any leads on our missing Jackals.”

The brothers looked back and forth between each other before looking back at me. “Sure, we can do that.”

“Thanks, guys.” I held out my hand, and Mika took it. “Okay, let’s go.”

When the elevator doors closed behind us, I looked down at him. “So, poker, huh?”

“Yeah. I used to play with my grandmother a lot. She loves playing cards of all kinds. Rook is her favorite, but she likes poker, too. I wasn’t kidding, though, when I said wouldn’t have bet like that if I’d realized it was real money.”