Chapter 2
Sebastian
“Just once, I’d like to show up at a party and not have to do anythin’,” I grumbled, rearranging my grip on the keg I was carrying. “Oh, Bas, you’re here. Have a beer and take a load off.”
“You’re such a whiner,” my best friend Titus grunted.
“Says the guy who needed a fuckin’ hand truck,” I shot back with a grin.
“Hey man, you wanna fuck up your back, it’s on you. I wanna be able to toss my woman around the way she likes until I’m in the ground.”
“Don’t talk about my sweet Noel that way,” I chided. “You fuckin’ caveman. That woman is a saint.”
“Preachin’ to the choir,” he said with a laugh. “She took the kids to my mom’s over an hour ago. You think she hung around to visit or she’s sittin’ in her car somewhere enjoyin’ the quiet?”
“She probably put the back seats down and is nappin’ in their driveway.”
Titus chuckled. “I wouldn’t be surprised.”
“She’s cool with havin’ the party here?” I asked, putting the keg down on the back porch. “It’s not really her scene.”
“Yeah, she’s good.” He nodded. “I think she’s excited to have a night without the kids. I mean”—he shot me a look—“she’d rather have me to herself, but she doesn’t mind havin’ people over.”
“I’ll crash on the couch, get up early in the mornin’, and get shit cleaned up so she doesn’t do it.”
“I’m sleepin’ in,” Titus replied with a sly grin. “But I’ll send her over to Mom’s while we get the house dialed in. She changed the sheets in all the bedrooms in case anyone stays over, so you can just crash upstairs.”
“I’m fine on the couch.”
“That’s what I told her, but you know how she is. Speakin’ of couches, how’s your new apartment workin’ out?”
“I bought a fuckin’ bed.”
“About time.”
“With a frame,” I clarified. “Not mattresses on the floor. Real shit.”
“You should’ve taken your bed,” Titus griped. “I told you to take your bed when you moved out.”
“Mermaid wanted it.”
“You don’t have to give my oldest everything she wants.”
“Wrong.”
“She didn’t need a damn king-size bed. She’s not even four feet tall.”
“I didn’t say she needed it,” I argued as I followed him inside. “I said she wanted it.”
“And now I’m gonna have to get rid of it when she decides it’s too big and she wants more space in her room.”
“That’s your problem, not mine,” I countered, grabbing a soda out of the fridge.
I missed this place. I’d lived there with Titus for years, even staying after Noel and the girls moved in and they expanded their family, but I’d finally decided that enough was enough a few months before.
My new apartment wasn’t anything fancy—more of a townhouse, with builder-grade appliances and flooring and shit—but it was in the price range I wanted to spend and it was only twenty minutes from the club.
I figured I’d get a house eventually, but I wasn’t in a hurry.
I’d been single most of my adult life, and I didn’t need a whole lot of space.
Might as well save up and get some property instead of finding some cookie-cutter place in town.
“Myla and Cian said they’ll be here early,” Titus said, dropping onto a kitchen stool. “She’s bringin’ food. When’s Lou gonna get here?”
“I’m not her keeper,” I replied, leaning against the counter.
Titus just stared at me.
“She said she’d pick up some fruit and veggie trays after work, so probably sometime in the next half hour.”
“Was that so hard?”
“Love it how everyone just assumes I know her schedule.”
“That’s ’cause you do.”
He was right, but it still rubbed me the wrong way.
Literally everyone in our circle thought of Lou and me as a pair, but the way they did it was weird.
I’d heard the comments, and I didn’t miss the insinuations.
Everyone saw me as some lovesick chump following Lou around like a puppy—it irritated the hell out of me.
They didn’t give her shit about knowing where I was even though she knew just as much about me.
Lou and I weren’t together. We’d never been together, not even for a night. It wasn’t about that.
“You’ve got her number, man, why don’t you just text her instead of askin’ me?” I asked.
“Because you’re standin’ right here,” Titus said slowly, frowning. “What’s up your ass?”
“Nothin’,” I replied, brushing him off. “So, Myla and Lou are bringin’ the food. Who’s on liquor?”
“Rumi said he’d grab some—”
“So, his wife will.”
“Correct,” Titus confirmed. “And I think Jamison was going to pick some up, too.”
“Hard to believe that little Jamo is old enough to buy liquor.”
“He’s not that much younger than us.”
“Always felt like he was, though.”
“That’s because Brody never let him hang out,” Titus said with a laugh. “The asshole.”
“Are Kara and Draco coming out tonight?”
“Don’t think so,” he replied, shaking his head. “One of their kids has a race, I think. They’re up in Washington for the weekend.”
“The old guard?”
“Nope. Just the kids.” He stood and stretched his arms above his head as the sound of tires on gravel filtered in the front windows. “Not sure how many people Brody invited, but I told him to keep that shit small so they didn’t tear up my house.”
“Good fuckin’ luck,” I said with a laugh as I followed him toward the front door. “Brody’s never met a stranger. He was probably invitin’ people at the gas station today.”
“I’ll fuckin’ kill him,” Titus replied quietly before calling out to Noel. “Hey, baby. What happened to you?”
“I stopped at the store on my way back,” she replied, pointing to the trunk of her van. “I grabbed some food for tonight. Hey, stranger!”
“Hey beautiful,” I called back as we walked over to unload the groceries. “You look pretty as a Christmas card.”
Noel snorted and swatted me with the back of her hand, her cheeks flushing with pleasure. “I look like I haven’t showered in two days. Which is where I’m headed now.” She turned to Titus. “Put the fridge stuff away, but I’ll deal with everything else when I get out, okay?”
Titus looked at her, then looked at me, then looked back at her as she walked away.
“You know where everything goes,” he said, slapping me on the arm as he hurried behind her. “Thanks, Bas.”
I watched as Titus chased her onto the porch, the two of them laughing as they disappeared inside the house. Then I took my time grabbing all the bags of groceries before I carried them inside.
Even though I’d bitched earlier, I didn’t really mind helping out. Titus and Noel didn’t get much time alone, and I was sure they’d like to make the most of it. I’d had an up-close view of their relationship from the beginning, and I didn’t think I’d ever seen a couple more devoted to each other.
To be fair, I was surrounded by solid couples.
It was something I hadn’t anticipated when I’d walked into the MC’s garage all those years ago looking for a community.
The Aces and Eights MC lived outside the law in a lot of ways.
From the outside looking in, they were dirty as hell, and none of the brothers were perfect, but no one could deny that they loved their women well.
Lately, I’d started to feel a little out of place as the brothers who’d come up with me paired off one by one.
We’d drank and fought and done stupid shit together for so long, and now they were moving in with their women, having kids, buying houses, and settling down—or as settled down as they’d ever be considering their occupations and associations.
I had my hands full of freezer food when my phone rang, and I threw some tater tots in the freezer so I could pull it out of my pocket. Like an idiot, I put it to my ear without checking who was calling.
“Mr. Banks,” the voice on the other line said sternly as soon as I’d answered. “You’re a hard man to reach.”
Fuck.
“I’ve left you a few messages, and I was prepared to leave another one. As I said in my last voicemail, this is Lewis Concord. I’m an attorney with Concord and Ford. Is this a good time for you to speak?”
“Not really,” I replied, stuffing the rest of the frozen food into the freezer. “Why don’t I call you back—”
My words trailed off as Lou walked in the back door and set trays of food on the counter. She smiled at me and waved, lifting her eyebrows as she glanced at the phone.
“Mr. Banks, I represent Bernice Macintosh,” the lawyer said quickly, like he was afraid I would hang up.
Once, not long after the Aces had agreed to take me on as a prospect, I’d been working out with Titus’s oldest brother, Mick.
We were taking turns working a punching bag, and he hit it at just the moment I wasn’t paying attention.
It smacked my torso so hard that it knocked the air out of me, and I’d fallen to my knees in terror as I’d tried to drag oxygen back into my lungs.
The lawyer’s words had the same effect, but this time I was able to keep my legs under me.
“I have the privilege of taking care of Ms. Macintosh’s estate,” the lawyer continued. “Of which you are a beneficiary. If you’d like, I can detail that now or you could come to my office next week, and I can walk you through—”
“It’s not a good time,” I said, cutting him off. I could feel Lou’s eyes like lasers on the side of my face. “I’ll call back.”
“I won’t be available again until Monday,” he warned.
“Monday’s good. I’ll call then.” I hung up before he could say anything else.
“What’s wrong?” Lou asked, moving toward me. “You’re white as a ghost.”
“Nothin’,” I replied, shaking my head.
“Bullshit.” She scowled, her gaze roaming over my face.
“Really,” I said, reaching out to pull her into a hug. “Everything is fine.”
“Who was that on the phone?” she pressed, tipping her head back to look at me.
“Damn, woman, can I have any privacy?”
“Oh, you want privacy now, huh?” she argued as I let her go. “Mr. I’m-going-to-follow-you-at-a-distance-so-you-won’t-realize-I’m-watching-your-date.”
“That happened one fucking time two years ago,” I reminded her. “And you tore me a new one.”