Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
KODIAK
Bonfires are roaring in the back forty of the property, the sound system has rock music blaring in the background, the pit is roasting a pig, and drinks are free flowing. The club girls are dancing with solo cups held high above their heads, but none of that interests me. My eyes are steadily focused on the gate at the front of the property which I can see from my position.
“Brother,” Xavier says as he lounges next to me. “So, I know you said I needed to keep my distance from Demi, but since she’s going to be a guest here, it’d be considered rude if I ignored her.”
“Are you seriously going to go there, Xavier?” I know what he’s up to, and I’m not wholly impressed with his bullshit argument.
“I mean, we can’t have her thinking we’re a bunch of uncouth bikers, can we?” he asks.
“Uncouth? Where’d you learn that word?”
“Word of the day calendar, of course,” he replies, snickering. “I’ve got a whole arsenal of them to use now. This is a good thing, Marcum, especially with your little writer coming. She’ll know we aren’t uneducated assholes.”
“Some of us are,” I retort. “But some of us have higher education, too,” I add.
“Who are you trying to impress?” Xavier asks, his smirk tells me he’s in smartass mode.
“Not you, you’re as dumb as they come,” I joke, slapping his shoulder.
“Whatever, asshole. You have the same amount of smarts as I do,” he teases, slapping me back. “On a serious note, is she your one, Marcum?”
“I don’t know yet. She hasn’t been exposed to all of this,” I announce, opening my arms wide. “She could see the club girls doing what they do best and hit the road running.”
“Nah, brother. I don’t see that happening. As long as the girls keep their distance from you and mind their business it should be fine,” he assures.
I snort before asking, “What world are you living in, Xavier? We both know these bitches will do whatever it takes to get my attention. Every damn one of them is grabby when it comes to me.”
“It’s because you’ve got all the power,” he sing songs. “They want you because you’re the president.”
“What are you, two?” I grumble while he chortles next to me. “Fucker. Plus, we haven’t really spent a lot of time together. She might have habits I can’t handle.”
“ You might have those too, asshole. I mean, you snore like a lawnmower cutting grass, after all,” he replies.
“I do not snore,” I rebut.
“Sounds like a crew of lumberjacks taking down trees.”
“I don’t sound like a damn lawnmower nor a chainsaw, dickhead,” I argue, shaking my head. “I think you’re hearing yourself.”
“You saying when I’m laying in bed, minding my own business, I’m clearing the woods? You’re so full of shit, brother.”
As I go to add to our banter, I notice Luna’s SUV pull up to the gate. I gave the guard her vehicle details so she wouldn’t be detained. A smile lights up Xavier’s face when he notices where my attention is aimed.
“Showtime,” he snickers, rubbing his hands together.
Great, now he sounds like Beetlejuice. Shaking my head, I stand and walk toward where Luna is currently parking her vehicle, Xavier hot on my heels. Once she turns the car off, I walk to the driver’s door and open it for her, then help her out. I notice Xavier doing the same for Demi and barely hold back from rolling my eyes.
Leaning down, I brush my lips across Luna’s and say, “Hey.”
“Hey, Marcum,” she replies. “Who's that with Demi?”
“My brother by blood, Xavier,” I tell her, placing my hand on her low back to lead her over by the firepit. We have several roaring seeing as the temperature drops at night since we’re not far from the lake.
“He’s handsome, not as sexy as you are though,” she teases, smiling up at me.
“Damn right he’s not,” I playfully growl, bending over and nipping her skin with my teeth. “He may have himself a little crush going on with your girl there.”
“Oh, yeah? A lot of men do,” she states.
“He’s a fan. We’ve been to several of her fights, she’s damn good.” My eyes swivel toward the duo and see that Xavier’s laying it on thick, using all of his best pick up lines on Demi. I internally grin when I note that she’s not falling for a damn one of them. She’s gonna give him a chase. It’ll be good for him. Women are usually an easy claim for him, and I’m glad that this one will knock him off the totem pole he’s placed himself high upon.
“Too bad it didn’t help her,” she whispers, a sad look crossing her face at the reminder of what Demi recently endured.
“Babe, she was drugged. If she was in full fighting form, she’d have laid those fuckers out and not broken a sweat,” I reply.
“That I have no doubt,” she says, agreeing with me. “I’ve seen her take on men twice her size and make them beg for mercy.”
“I’ve seen it for myself. She’s a badass. I think the fact that she can take men down at the knees is the reason Xavier is so taken with her.”
“So, he’s got a bit of a pain thing?” she asks.
I snort as laughter bubbles up. “Fuck no, unless it’s him causing the pain. He likes that a woman is able to take care of herself and do it so magnificently.”
“Look at you using all these big words,” she teases.
“It’s Xavier’s fucking fault,” I grumble. “He was using some really old word earlier and I gave him shit for it. He said he didn’t want y’all to think we were a bunch of dumbasses.”
“Oh, I’m sure you guys get up to dumbass shit, but I’d never presume about another person’s intelligence based on how they talk, Marcum.”
Somehow, that soothes something inside that was a bit unsettled thinking about how she might see my brothers.
“Besides, do you know how often I have to reference my thesaurus to find a word I need?” she questions. “It’s a trick of the trade which is the only reason I have the vocabulary I have.”
“Makes sense. What do you want to drink? Beer? Soda? Water?”
A look crosses her face that I can’t decipher before she says, “Water, please.”
“Are you the sober driver tonight, Luna?”
“Something like that,” she tells me, beaming up at me. But there are shadows in her eyes that say loud and clear that she’s holding something back.
“You gonna tell me what has you looking so glum, sweet Luna?”
“Later,” she mumbles, looking down at her shoes.
“I’ll hold you to that, my moon,” I say, gripping her chin between my fingers and angling her head upward. “I can’t help you if you keep things from me.”
“I’ll tell you, Marcum. I swear. First though, I want to get through our conversation with Demi.”
“I’ll accept that. For now,” I reiterate. “Let Xavier get a few drinks in her first so she’ll loosen up before we hit her with what our plan is.”
“That was my plan too,” she acknowledges. “But she can hold her liquor so it may be a few hours before she lets go.”
“We’ve got nothing but time,” I remind her. “The night is still young.”
Food has been consumed, and Demi is in the midst of the club girls, dancing and singing to the lyrics. I turn to Luna and raise my brows.
“Yeah. It’s time once we can convince her to come with us,” Luna says, biting her bottom lip.
“Don’t be nervous, Luna Moon. I’ll be the one doing the talking,” I reassure her. I know she feels as if she’s betrayed her friend by telling me about the assault. But after Demi cools her jets, she’ll understand that Luna had her best interest at heart.
Squeezing Luna’s hand, I let go and walk in the middle of the girl’s mob dancing. “Ladies. I need to speak with Demi privately for a few minutes. Stay warmed up and she’ll come back and join you soon.”
Demi gives me a quizzical look, but waves to the girls as she follows me. “Luna, Demi, you two follow me.” I know they’re not my men and don’t have to follow my orders, but out of respect, I still expect them to do it.
I lead them to my office and shut the door behind us. “Have a seat,” I state, pointing my fingers at the two chairs situated directly in front of my desk. I walk around it and plop down in my reclining office chair.
When I look at Luna to see if she wants to start this meeting, I notice that her eyes are clamped shut. I guess she expects me to do it all, which is fine, I prefer it this way.
“Demi, I want you to hear me out and wait until I’m done speaking to insert your two cents. It’s imperative that you don’t jump to conclusions and let me lay it all out for you. Okay?”
“Sure,” she says, shrugging her shoulders. However, I can see the devil resting on her shoulder, ready and willing to assert her dominance over me.
Yeah, this woman is Xavier’s type to a T.