Mensa’s Match (Riot MC Biloxi #9)

1. Fate

Chapter 1

Fate

Whitney

“I can find somebody else, Whitney. I don’t want to be the reason you give up on your dream,” Aunt Nadia said.

My eyes met hers and I offered a wan smile. “That’s sweet of you, Aunt Nadia, but life happens.”

My aunt narrowed her green eyes and scoffed. If she didn’t visit her hairstylist routinely, I suspected her grays would be more white these days, but nobody knew for sure because her hair was always a vibrant auburn. For a woman who wanted to retire, she still had plenty of spunk and style. A big part of me hoped I could live up to her example when I was her age.

She put a fist on her jeans-clad hip. “That boy, Ben, did you wrong.”

I dipped my chin. “He did, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s time. I’ve been burned out for a while, and I’ve realized I want other things from life.”

“That isn’t what you said—”

This wasn’t the first time we broached this subject, and no matter how angry it might make her, I interrupted.

“That was a while ago. Between this wake-up call and your need to retire… it’s a sign.”

Aunt Nadia frowned, then she spied my purse on the counter. “You goin’ somewhere?”

I grinned. “I thought I’d grab a slice of pizza. You want to come with me? Or I can bring you something?”

She dropped her hand and blew out a breath. “No, ma’am. You go ahead. I have to sign for those jerseys if they ever get delivered.”

With a quick nod, I ducked out of her embroidery and screen-printing shop, Hard Pressed.

In the nick of time, I snagged the last two-person table at Bayou Moon Pizzeria.

My conversation with Aunt Nadia wouldn’t stop repeating in my mind. It took restraint not to tell her just how wrong Ben had done me. My cell rang, and I answered without paying close attention to the display.

“Whitney, it’s Ben.”

I clenched my teeth and exhaled quietly through my nose. “What do you need?”

“I just saw your texts. Are you sure, Whitney?” Ben asked.

Ben and I had been agents on an FBI public-corruption squad. During our last case, he’d been forced to fire his weapon, which required a separate investigation to prove deadly force had been necessary. He’d shared with the review panel a number of things, such as our involvement together and his suspicion that I’d become too engrossed in the case.

He should have received three texts; the first, telling him I needed to speak to him, went unanswered for over two days. Even though I was loathe to do it, I sent a second text saying our relationship was done. The last one, sent ten minutes later, informed him I had resigned from the Bureau and that I’d boxed up the few things he’d left at my place, and I provided the tracking number for the shipment.

I resisted the urge to pull my cell phone from my ear and chuck it across the room. No amount of deep breathing could calm me down, but I tried again anyway. It gave me time to control my tone of voice. “Yes, Ben. I’m sure. There was more than just one text and all of them were rather clear.”

“It’s just a misunderstanding, baby.”

My jaw shifted and I considered getting up from my seat inside Bayou Moon Pizza. The lunch rush was in full swing, though, and seeing as how my order hadn’t been called, if I stepped outside I’d never get my table back.

I firmed up my tone, but kept it from being bitchy.

Who was I kidding? When Ben didn’t hear what he wanted to hear, he always called my firm tone bitchy.

“Agent Heston, we’re done. You voiced your opinion that my judgment as an agent was questionable, added to that the fact we had been involved, and rather than both of us getting benched, only I did. I’m being as civil as I can, but hear this. I’m very sure that we are finished.”

Ben went on a tear that I only half-listened to, since I’d heard it before. He claimed it was all to keep us safe, and reminded me that my mental health evaluation played a bigger role. That was true to an extent, but he was a master at painting himself in a good light.

The door opened, the bells tinkled, and I found myself thoroughly distracted. Three Riot MC members sauntered inside wearing their colors.

Thank God, I sat in full view of the front door.

I ducked my head down in hopes they wouldn’t notice me. Many would assume that my FBI training developed my habit of sitting with my back to the wall, but Quantico didn’t teach me that, Aunt Nadia did.

Aunt Nadia taught me a lot of things. Like not taking shit from anyone. Like living life to the fullest. And most recently, embracing life’s curveballs and seeing the silver lining – though that lesson was still a struggle.

“Are you listening to me, Whitney?” Ben demanded.

“Can’t say that I am. We’re done. Stop calling me, Ben.”

I ended the call, and my order was announced. My stomach growled as I sat down with my two slices of mushroom and pepperoni.

I heard the bells tinkle again, looked up, and sighed. This couldn’t be happening. I specifically came to Bayou Moon because it was a pizzeria. He wasn’t supposed to be here, seeing as how he carried an EpiPen for his dairy allergy. Nevertheless, Kenneth “Mensa” Ragstone sauntered inside, and my heart rate accelerated.

Nothing about this was right. I gravitated to the good guys. I didn’t go for the bad boys. I only wanted to see Mensa one way: him walking in front of me with his hands behind his back, wearing handcuffs I had put on him.

Yet, that wasn’t to be. I hadn’t been sent here to investigate him. I’d been ordered to befriend a judge’s daughter. The judge was suspected of defrauding the Social Security Administration, and other things.

Over the course of the investigation, I’d come across Mensa’s file. My superiors thought he might be in on the fraud, but we found no evidence to support that. In fact, aside from a drunk-and-disorderly when he turned twenty-one, it appeared that Mensa hadn’t so much as jaywalked in the past fifteen years. Rumor had it he came by his road name due to his brilliance at not getting caught doing anything. He wasn’t a book-smart genius. He was a genius thanks to his street-smarts.

Thus, the idea of bringing him in appealed to me. He may not have been caught, but my gut said he’d committed plenty of crimes. That made my attraction to him all the more irritating and baffling.

My damned hormones were getting the best of me – had to be.

Nothing else explained my eyes seeking his whenever we were in the same room, or the fact I went out of my way to do the opposite of whatever he wanted, like when he wanted me out of the Riot MC clubhouse back in November, but I’d stuck around until after midnight.

Now that I’d resigned, I had no reason to give a damn about Mensa. Hell, other than Aunt Nadia and her shop, and that my assignment turned into a genuine friendship with Riley – a definite silver lining – I had no reason to stay in town… but I couldn’t decide where I wanted to go. Or what I wanted to do.

You want to do Mensa , a little voice inside my head suggested.

I clenched my teeth.

I despised that I lusted over him. He wasn’t my type, and not just because he was an outlaw biker. My prior lovers had been over six feet tall, clean-cut men. Sometimes they were built, other times they had the beginnings of the classic ‘Dad bod.’ I didn’t care as long as a man was funny and friendly. The ability to take instruction or at least listen to what I wanted in the bedroom didn’t hurt, either.

Mensa didn’t qualify on most of those counts.

According to the dossier I had compiled on him, he stood only two inches taller than my five-foot-eight-inches.

His brown eyes weren’t soulful, no, they were so cold he could stare down the devil himself. When we argued, some foolish part of me craved the moment that I earned that stare-down.

The way his wavy hair curled along his neck, I wanted to run my fingers through it and give it a good tug. He probably wouldn’t go for that, which made me want it even more.

He was built, but he didn’t flaunt it.

He wasn’t the least bit friendly to me, which meant I had no idea if he was funny – though he made his MC brothers laugh plenty.

And obviously, I had no idea about his behavior in the bedroom.

Hard to say what I hated more – the fact that I was attracted to him or the fact that he could be so freaking attractive with his messy hair and scruffy beard.

While I ate my pizza, I noted where each Riot MC brother sat at their table. Mensa had his back to me. I had an excellent profile view of Gamble and Brute. Har faced me, but his focus was on the other men.

I sipped my Dr. Pepper to wash down my last bite while I read an article on my phone. Someone pulled the chair across from me out from under the table. I glanced up to see Mensa sitting down. That was unexpected, but I kept myself from showing a reaction.

“I’ve been looking into you,” he said.

I lifted my chin an inch.

His nostrils flared. “But I can’t find anything.”

I resisted the urge to smile that almost overwhelmed me.

He narrowed one eye at me. “That tells me my gut is right.”

I turned my head, and noticed Gamble and Har were watching us. My lips tipped up when I looked back to Mensa. “And what is your gut right about?”

He shifted the chair back. “That you’re trouble. Do us all a favor, stay away from Riley.”

That rankled.

“She’s my friend. Or isn’t she allowed to make those decisions for herself?”

“That’s low,” Mensa hissed.

I shrugged a shoulder. “You’re part of the same family tree as her; for all I know you’ve got the same controlling ideas that her Daddy did.”

His lip curled. “I don’t operate that way, Blume.”

I nodded once. “That’s a relief – and I mean that.”

“The fact I can’t find out anything about you tells me you’re not from here.”

“Your point?” I asked when he lapsed into silence.

He shook his head. “When are you leaving town?”

I assumed an innocent expression. “What makes you think I’m leaving town?”

“Your brother left. Figured you won’t be too far behind him.”

If I hadn’t resigned, he’d be right – not because I was following Wyatt, but because I’d have been assigned to a new case by now.

The idea that Mensa wanted me gone bothered me.

It shouldn’t, but it did. He wasn’t the first person who didn’t take a shine to me, and seeing as that feeling was mutual it spurred more confusion. Why did I care what he thought of me? He wasn’t the sort of man who interested me. Why did I want him to want me to stick around?

I couldn’t contemplate that with his eyes boring into mine.

I concentrated on putting my phone in my Boho bag before I looked up at him. “This might disappoint you, but I don’t know that I will leave town. Biloxi isn’t such a bad place. The weather’s nice, there’s a beach, and Aunt Nadia’s cool as hell. I could see myself sticking around a while.”

He twisted his head to the side and exhaled hard. He turned back, those eyes blazing. “You’re full of shit, and you’re hiding something. I mean it, stay away from me, my brothers, and damn sure my cousin, Riley.”

“Or what?” I asked, unable to stop myself.

He stood and looked down his nose at me. “Or there’s gonna be hell to pay.”

The security system gave a whiny, high-pitched double beep when I opened the door to Hard Pressed. The business was Aunt Nadia’s pride and joy. But seventy was on the horizon and six months ago she’d asked me if I wanted to take over.

At the time, it had been an easy answer: not a chance. I was working interesting and challenging cases with the FBI.

Now, I was ashamed that I’d resigned.

And yet… if I were honest with myself, I’d lost my drive somewhere along the way. My five-year anniversary with the Bureau would have been in two months. Part of me felt the loss of not hitting that milestone, and another part of me recognized it had been past time for me to move on. An agent had to be able to move if there was a greater need on another mission. In the past, I’d been down for all of that, but since hitting thirty-four, it had lost its appeal.

Was it a total waste to turn my back on law enforcement after the last four years? (That year spent in the academy didn’t factor into my tenure with the Bureau.) I didn’t really think so. I had done more good than most people would ever know during that time.

Despite Aunt Nadia’s encouragement to keep after my dream, her offer was still on the table. Dealing with ordinary citizens appealed to me… no, being my own boss appealed to me. Just because something appealed to me, didn’t mean it was the right decision though. Part of me wanted to get that drive back and prove that I still belonged in law enforcement.

“It’s about time you got back,” Aunt Nadia called from the register.

I stepped behind the counter and tucked my purse into a drawer. “Yeah, I’m sorry that took so long.”

“They must have been busy at Mick’s place.”

“No more than usual,” I muttered.

“Really? Then what was the hold up?”

I wobbled my head. “To start, Ben called.”

Aunt Nadia pulled off her glasses. “That boy…”

“Yeah,” I murmured.

“Something else happened.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Don’t lie to me, Whitney Janelle.”

I forced a smile. “The next time I’m craving Bayou Moon’s pizza, I’ll have to get it to go, that’s all.”

“Why? Did you get on Mick’s bad side somehow?”

I scoffed. “I know better than that.”

“Then why would you have to settle for take out?”

“I ran into Kenneth.”

Her brows drew together and her lips curled in distaste. “Who’s Kenneth?”

I sighed. “Mensa, okay. I’m surprised you only know these people by their road names.”

“Sandy only refers to them using those names. What does Mensa have to do with you not going out for pizza?”

I glanced out the front window. “Nothing. Like I said, it doesn’t matter.”

“You’re supposed to be smart, but you’ve lost half your IQ if you think I’m gonna fall for that. Hell, that’s a sign it absolutely matters.”

I leveled a dry look at her. “I’m attracted to him, but that’s irrelevant. He’s not my type. He can’t stand me. And I’m not getting involved with a man again for quite a while.”

She cackled.

I widened my eyes. “Don’t laugh at me like that. I know what that means. You think I’m full of it.”

She sobered. “No, I think those are famous last words, my dear. You’re so determined to have no man in your life right now that fate introduces you to Mensa.”

I shook my head. “Don’t bring fate into this. There’s no way I’m entertaining that idea.”

Her knowing grin unsettled me. She shrugged a shoulder. “Have it your way. It still doesn’t explain why you have to steer clear of Bayou Moon.”

I returned her a knowing grin. “He warned me to stay away from him, Riley, and his Riot MC brothers. And because I’m a glutton for punishment, when I asked what he’d do if I didn’t heed his warning, he threatened me. I’m pretty sure fate has nothing to do with this one, Aunt Nadia.”

“I’m surprised he’d do such a thing to you. That’s disappointing.” She shuffled to the other end of the counter, and nudged a box with her foot. “While you were gone, the jerseys for the softball team came in. You can get to screen printing them while I finish up another patch for a VFW member.”