Page 24

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

MANE

Myles came in and I was officially introduced to him. While I started cleaning his wounds and came to discover they weren’t serious and he wouldn’t need to go to the hospital for any stitches, the men started hustling around the kitchen making him a sandwich and pouring him a large mug of coffee. I slid him a bottle of water since he needed to be hydrated. Apparently, I was the only one thinking with a clear head.

Now, his belly is full and he’s in the shower, cleaning the grime from his skin. When he stood up he was steadier on his feet than he was when he first walked through the door so I didn’t let his brothers hover over him. Bruiser was definitely right. He needs some time to decompress because he’s definitely a bit jumpy, especially with the number of people around. Still, the overriding emotion I see in his expression is rage. Pure, unadulterated, someone-is-going-to-get-hurt rage. Yes, he’s angry but he wasn’t tortured so it won’t take him long to bounce back. My opinion is that if he gets a chance to face his abductor and partner in crime, a lot of the weight he’s carrying will be lifted.

“What do you think?” Mason asks me as he and Maverick take the seat beside me. “Mentally and emotionally, is he going to recover from this ordeal?”

“He’s stronger than you give him credit for,” I tell the duo. “I think if you let him face his demons and confront Benji and Laura he’ll move on quicker and deal faster.”

“I like quicker and faster,” Maverick mumbles.

“So what I’m hearing,” Dad interjects as he pulls out a stool and climbs up the rung before plopping his ass on it. “Is that we need to hold off on ridding the world of dumb and dumber until Myles is ready to face them?”

Before I get a chance to answer, Myles announces, “I’m ready now.”

“You sure, brother?” Mason asks him, quizzically looking him over.

“I’m sure. They’ve taken enough of my time, I can’t let them take another second away from me. How did Mom and Dad take me missing?”

“They don’t know,” Mason admits. “We didn’t want to startle them and have Mom traipsing through town searching for you until we had a chance to see if we could find you first.”

“Oh, you’re going to be in so much trouble,” Myles says, smirking toward his two eldest brothers. “She’s going to take her spatula to your asses.”

“Do we have to tell her?” Maverick asks, pouting.

“I mean, he isn’t wrong,” Mason tacks on. “What they don’t know, especially Mom, won’t hurt them.”

“As long as y’all are aware that this gives me blackmail material, I can agree to that,” Myles answers.

Mason squints his eyes and asks, “What are the terms?”

“I get to come with you,” Myles says to Mason.

“To Texas?” Mason questions.

“Yep,” Myles responds, looking very happy about this probability. “And I want to prospect.” All eyes turn to Hydro who seems to be okay with that.

“We have a few men about to climb the ranks so we’ll need more prospects to take their place,” Hydro states.

“Y’all aren’t going to leave me behind,” Maverick declares.

“We can’t leave Mom and Dad here without at least one of us,” Mason states, a frown marring his face.

“We have enough ranch hands. They run circles around us anyway. It’ll give our senior men a chance to move up,” Maverick justifies.

“Manny and Estefano have been here for going on fifteen years now. They deserve a promotion,” Myles decrees. “And we have more that are a few years shy of that timeline and have been working their asses off. Worst case scenario, one or all of us come back during the spring when the livestock has to be turned out.”

“Let’s discuss this after we take care of Benji and Laura,” I compromise. “And, I won’t let it happen unless your parents are on board. Got it?” They both emphatically nod their heads but are wearing smiles, they know their brother is going to give in and help them convince their parents that this will work out.

“If everyone is ready, let's get this done and over with. I’d like to see a bed sometime in the next couple of hours,” Hydro states.

“We’ve been awake for over twenty-four hours and my eyelids are drooping,” Ella remarks. “I’m ready to rock n’ roll.”

“You’re special teams, Ella. If you want to stay here and rest we can deal with this,” Bruiser tells her.

Only a few select are considered special teams. It’s the group that deals with not only the MC stuff but also the organization Pops and Luca were born into. Ella is their designated sniper and gets called in by both factions when they need her exceptional skills.

“Over my dead body,” she hisses.

Bruiser holds his hands up in surrender and backs away. “Then let's do this already.”

The men all walk out, but Mason stops and lays a panty melting kiss on my lips. “Get some sleep, I’ll join you once we’re done.”

“Bed sounds wonderful. See you soon, handsome.”

I watch as he walks out the door and even knowing that what they’re about to do won’t take them long to finalize, I still choose to hit the hay instead of waiting up.

* * *

The sun shining in my eyes is what wakes me. I reach out for Mason and find the bed empty. I know he came in last night and slipped beneath the sheets beside me because my eyes fluttered when he dragged me closer to him. I recall him telling me he loved me and kissing the nape of my neck before the darkness pulled me back under.

I’m disappointed that he didn’t wake me before leaving the bed, but I’m sure there was something he needed to get done and considering he’s always putting my needs above his own, he most likely decided I needed the sleep and left me here.

It doesn’t take me long to roll out of bed, head into the bathroom to save my aching bladder, then I jump into the shower so I can get dressed. It’s time to bring on a new day, one that doesn’t involve skanky Laura or dastardly Benji.

A shower always makes me feel like a new person, so when I walk into the living room there’s a bounce to my step. “Morning, Dad,” I say, leaning around him and kissing his cheek.

“Morning, baby girl. Mason and his brothers went to talk to their parents. Maverick and Myles were impatient and excited to come back to Texas with us.”

“I don’t think it’s only the MC drawing them in,” I convey.

“What do you think it is?” Hydro asks as he butters his toast and scoots a plate my way.

“Their brother. The three of them are close and with Mason choosing to move a couple of states away, it isn’t sitting right with them,” I inform them. “Y’all know how it is.”

“I’m an only child so I envy him,” Hydro admits. I didn’t know that about him, I thought he had a few siblings running around but considering it’s none of my business I don’t question him on it. In the Italian culture, much like with the motorcycle club lifestyle, men can be your brothers and women can be your sisters without having any blood relations.

I allow myself to be lulled by the conversation around me. I find it funny that they have a block of rooms but find themselves here cooking and roaming around as if this is their home. But that’s the way it is with our family, the door is always open.

* * *

Not knowing when we’re planning on hitting the road or what’s happening with Mason, his brothers and their parents, I decide to do a load or two of laundry so it’s clean and I don’t have to do it when we get back to Texas.

“What do you know about Maverick and Myles’ background?” Ella asks as she removes the haul from the dryer and places them into the basket so we can take them into the living room to fold.

“Not much to be honest,” I confess. “I know that Myles is mechanically certified and Maverick has spent his life here working on the ranch. Why do you ask?”

“I was wondering if they’d like to take a position at Kings,” she says. “But not knowing if they have the skillset to join us or not has me thinking I should wait and let them get settled so I can see where they naturally gravitate to.”

“I think you should present them with the option and see what they have to say,” I reply. I mean, I can personally see needing someone with mechanical skills with the sheer number of vehicles and bikes we have.

“Do you think I should talk to Mason first, Mane?”

“No,” I answer, giving her a disgruntled look. “They’re their own person and should be given the chance to make decisions for themselves.”

“Okay. If they figure things out in regard to the ranch and decide to come back with us I’ll ask them about it,” she decides.

“Good choice, Ella.” I smirk. Sometimes you have to lead the horse to the water or they won’t find it for themself.

I smile as she and I continue talking, cleaning up after ourselves, and packing our clean clothes. After all, if we’re ready to go then we can concentrate on helping the brothers box up their belongings.

If I know my man, and from the determination on his blood brothers’ faces, we’ll have added two new trucks to our convoy home.