Page 51 of Wicked Ends (Hellions of Hade Harbor #4)

Marcus

After a day of backbreaking work at the cabin, I took the pizzas from the delivery guy and headed back inside.

“Okay, as promised, dinner!” I shouted through the house.

“It better be good after all this unpaid labor,” Beckett grumbled as he ambled down the stairs and eyed the pizza boxes. “Cheapskate.”

“Hey, don’t be grumpy because I didn’t let you call in professional decorators. I wanted a homemade touch.” I grinned at him.

He took a pizza box and rolled his eyes.

“Don’t mind him. He’s just not used to manual labor, unlike the rest of us.

The little prince can’t hack it—” Eve broke off in a scream as Beckett bent down and heaved her over his shoulder in a fireman’s lift, smacking her butt with his free hand and taking her and his pizza box out to the back deck.

“I get it.” Cayden opened the top box before sorting through the rest, looking for his girl Lily’s favorite toppings. He opened the ham and pineapple and sighed.

I happened to know how much he hated that particular flavor, but Lily didn’t, and he didn’t intend for her to find out. “I want to share her favorite things with her ,” he’d once told me. I hadn’t gotten it then, but I did now.

“Actions speak louder than words, or limitless credit cards,” he finished and took the pizza over to Lily.

“Spoken like a guy who doesn’t have one!” Beckett called from the open door to the deck, where he was feeding Eve bites of pizza on his lap.

“I have to admit, money is nice,” Winter sighed and came for a pizza box. “But it’s the thought that counts. She’s going to love this place. And have a custom-made piece of art for the walls… it’s priceless, and the artist is hot.”

Asher appeared behind his girlfriend and slung an arm around her, pressing a kiss to her cheek. His face was speckled with blue and green paint from the mural he was painting.

“Don’t let your boyfriend hear you say that,” he growled in her ear.

“Why? What’s he going to do about it?” she dared him with her icy blue gaze.

“Knock it off, you two, at least until next time, when I’m not a seventh wheel,” I muttered.

“Does that make me the eighth wheel?” Isabelle sauntered down the stairs and snagged a pizza box.

“Actually, considering that I’m fixing up this place for my very own lady friend… you’re going to be the official seventh wheel really soon, so get used to it.”

“Fuck off, Marcus.” Isabelle sighed.

“With relish.” I took a huge bite of pizza and chewed as I wandered around downstairs, checking on our progress.

Many hands make light work certainly seemed to be true, as the cabin looked transformed already.

The walls were fresh and clean, everything was dusted.

The bed upstairs had new linens, and flowers in a vase.

The kitchen had shiny new appliances, and the best was yet to come…

a special delivery that wouldn’t arrive for a few days.

I had to stay away from Ari until then, or I was sure I’d ruin the surprise.

I went out onto the deck and ignored Beckett and Eve fooling around. The sun shone on the water beyond the line of pines that framed the rocky beach. The air was bracing and tinged with saltwater. This was a place where Ari could feel safe. A place she could belong… right here… to me.

After we were done at the house, mural drying, windows open to let in some fresh air, I planned to head to The Clutch on the way back to the dorms. I was getting on my bike when Beckett headed over. Eve was already in the truck waiting for him, and the rest of my friends had gone.

“I’ve been thinking, maybe you shouldn’t be avoiding your girl, and tell her what you’re up to.”

“What? Why?” I wondered.

Beckett scratched at the back of his neck.

“I just don’t know if she knows you’re all in.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning, I saw her this morning, at the Chickadee.”

“Well, that’s certainly headline-worthy. Did you call national news or just local?” I grinned at him.

He shot me an annoyed look. “She wasn’t alone, is what it is. She was having coffee with someone.”

“Who?” I didn’t care too much, but Beckett was being cagey about it, so it was best to let him speak.

“Professor Casanova… you know, the English Lit guy.”

I paused, jealousy immediately jumping in my chest. Fuck. I didn’t like that idea at all. I hated it, in fact. The thought of that motherfucker taking Ari for coffee, of him thinking for a second that he might have a chance… it made me want to tattoo my name on her forehead, or fucking marry her.

Marry her . Now, that wasn’t a terrible idea at all.

“Eve said it was nothing, but I thought you’d like to know.”

“Yeah, thanks. If you see the motherfucker…”

Beckett nodded. “Run him over. Got it.”

“Perfect.” I slammed my visor down and started my bike, dark possession stewing in my gut.

The Clutch was busy on a Sunday night. As a rule, the MC guys weren’t the kind to be having roast dinners at home on a Sunday night with family.

Their MC brothers were their family, and family hung out together.

I sat at the bar and sipped a beer as I attempted to let the jealousy that had sprung up fade.

Fuck. I didn’t get riled up about stupid shit.

That wasn’t my style, and yet, here I was.

Jealous. I didn’t like the idea of Ari going for a coffee with anyone but me.

Even her girlfriends pissed me off. That was a problem, clearly, but being irritated by Ari spending time with anyone but me, and her spending time with another man were different things.

It looked like Professor Fuckface hadn’t taken the hints he’d been given so far to back off.

He’d need a much more direct message.

“Rough night?” Someone had sat beside me.

I glanced over. The guy who’d been nursing a beer for a while looked at me.

“Why do you say that?” I wondered.

He stared down at my hands. I’d been cracking my knuckles without realizing it. I relaxed my hands. I still had paint flecks on them.

“Not really, it’s fine. You? I haven’t seen you around here before,” I noted.

The Clutch didn’t get many new customers who weren’t introduced through an MC member.

They were free to bring along a new lady or a new potential recruit, but random strangers didn’t really wander in.

The odd lost family on their way to town sometimes, but they usually took in the vibe and left pretty quickly.

Except Ari. She’d wandered in here, like a delicious bunny into a den of wolves, without even sensing the danger. She hadn’t even known it was an MC bar until I’d pointed it out. My lips tilted at the thought of her.

“Pretty damn good. Came to town looking for someone… someone who didn’t want to be found.”

“Oh, you a bitter ex or a collections agent?” I mused.

The guy chuckled. “Neither. I’m a PI by trade, tracking down a thief. Not just any thief. A thief to the tune of one hundred grand.”

I whistled. “That’s quite the figure to make off with. He rob a bank?”

The guy shook his head. “Not quite. But it doesn’t matter. I found her and took back what’s mine.”

“You’re a PI, but she stole your money?” I asked. The guy’s story was wild as hell.

“Yeah, well, this is a case that hit close to home,” he muttered and tapped a finger on a photo lying facedown on the bar top. “She’s also my little sister, and she tried to kill me before she left to run here, so you could say she’s got a few screws loose.”

He seemed eager to talk about his target, so I figured I’d oblige him.

“And she’s hiding out in Hade Harbor? I need to see this dangerous criminal,” I chuckled and turned the picture over.

The noise in the bar quieted. The music stopped. Even the air didn’t dare to move.

“She’s your sister?” I repeated, staring at the photo.

A photo of Ari.

My birthday girl.

“Sure is. Arianna Spencer, just turned twenty-five, and she’s lucky I tracked her down to get the money back myself. I could have let the cops do it, but you know, she’s family.”

I don’t have any family.

“Arianna Spencer?” I repeated.

The guy nodded. “She’s been hiding out here in town under a fake identity. She planned this theft well, probably for years. She might think she’s smart, but not smarter than me. Seen her around?” He turned an expectant expression on me.

There was something smug in his face. Like he was enjoying this conversation too much. What was his fucking angle?

“Maybe,” I muttered. The last thing I wanted was to listen to this fucker talk about Ari when she wasn’t here to defend herself.

“Well, if you do, be careful. This is her MO. Move to a new place and bleed people dry. She targets the most vulnerable. She paid me off, and I have no idea where she got the money, but it’s not hers, that much is certain.”

As he spoke, the door to the bar flew open and Maddox strode in. Every single Hound in the place sat up straighter, drawn by his urgency.

He met my gaze and jerked his head toward the back. His look was clear. Now .

“Well, that’s good to know. I’d love to know more, if you’re sticking around.”

“Sure. I’ve got what I need, so I’m not in a hurry to go anywhere,” the guy said and stuck his hand out to me. “I’m Dale, by the way.”

“Marcus.” I pushed up and stepped over the huge duffel bag Dale had at his feet.

It was vaguely familiar. I only had a second to register that fact before Maddox called out to me.

“Marcus.”

I followed him behind the bar to the kitchen. The harsh light was unforgiving and showcased the black eye blossoming on Maddox’s face.

“Shit, what happened?” I asked.

He was leaning over the counter in the middle of the kitchen, pensive as hell.

“It’s Cole. He couldn’t find the money from the Portland pickup. We had to go to the meetup without it. Our suppliers didn’t take it well. I didn’t take the brunt of it, your brother did. He’s in the ER.”

My mind went completely blank for a second. I couldn’t think of anything apart from Cole being in the hospital. Cole was hurt. Cole was hurt, and I hadn’t heard anything about it. Where was my phone? Thoughts ran through my mind like quicksilver.

“He called you,” Maddox seemed to read my mind. “Where is the bag? Did you move it somewhere?”

I’d left my phone at home this morning so I wouldn’t be tempted to call Ari and ruin the surprise I was planning for her.

Fuck. The bag. The one we’ve been playing our game with.

I hadn’t given it a second thought. I’d trusted Ari to keep it somewhere safe and figured I’d get it from her when it was needed. And now, Cole was in the ER.

Something about the thought of the bag niggled at me, and all at once it hit me.

I shoved out of the kitchen and took off in a run toward the bar. Straightaway, I could see Ari’s brother was gone, and so was the bag.

The bag. The one Cole needed.

I sprinted outside and circled around the bar. There was no sign of the guy. He’d gone, and he’d taken Cole’s one hundred grand with him. I stared at the empty road, winding away over the nearest hill, forests lining the asphalt in either direction. Which way had he gone? There was no way to know.

“Marcus, what the fuck is up? Where is the money?” Maddox followed me out to the lot.

“I don’t have it,” I managed to get out. “I don’t have the bag. It’s gone.”