Chapter 25 Rachel
TWENTY-FIVE
RACHEL
I didn’t end up going to meet with Rory in the city the next day. Instead, it was almost a week later after crisis after crisis had befallen the MC.
At least they were administrative issues and not custodial ones.
There was some relief from that.
Parker had to reschedule my meetings in New York and had to restructure the next month’s worth of appointments, but I managed to deal with most of the fallout.
“Thank God Rex gave me power of attorney,” I muttered under my breath as I rubbed my temple where the ever persistent ache was brewing.
I wasn’t sure if it was a situational kind of headache, one that was directly forged from the fact my life was hell right now, my baby daddy was missing, I was pregnant when being pregnant terrified me, Bear had died at said baby daddy’s hands, or the fact that the MC was going through a major shuffle which necessitated the entire council to be on hand to see it through… .
Well, when I put it like that, why the hell wouldn’t I have a headache?
The only bright spot this week had been a massive delivery from Hunter—I had more ice cream than an ice cream parlor in my freezer.
“You going to see a doctor?”
Spying Giulia in the doorway, I arched a brow at her. “What are you doing here?”
She shrugged. “I was supposed to be at Indy’s place today but I had a backache.”
“Wouldn’t have thought that’d stop you.”
“You’d be right,” she grumbled.
“Nyx?” I asked with an amused smile.
“Overprotective jerk.” She huffed.
“He’s just on edge right now.”
“My Old Man’s always on edge,” she mocked.
“More than usual.” I tipped up my chin. “You had no right to tell him I was pregnant.”
“We have no secrets,” she said demurely.
“Ha. That’s a lie if ever I heard one. Remind me if you’re in court to teach you how to utter complete bullshit with a straight face.”
She sniffed at me. “It wasn’t a lie.”
“Just a half truth?” I rolled my eyes. “Either way, it wasn’t your place to tell him.”
“Nyx and I keep few secrets between us. I didn’t expect the jackass to tell you I figured out you had a bun in the oven. Men,” she finished disgustedly. “Anyway, do you know what’s wrong with him?”
“In particular or in general?”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “After what we talked about before Christmas, Rachel, don’t mess with me.”
“I’m not. Rex’s absence has…” I rubbed my temple again. “It led to some home truths being confessed.”
“By who?” Giulia asked, tone curious.
“Me. Some things I didn’t particularly want to share but which triggered Rex’s departure, so I had to admit to them.”
She fell silent a second, then, as she looked at me, a soft breath whispered from her lips. “Oh, Rachel.”
“What is it?”
“The only reason Nyx would be so upset with any ‘home truths’ you told him is if…” She raised a hand to cover her eyes. “How many of us have gone through this? How many men have taken something from us?”
A bitter laugh scorched my lips. “Too many.”
Her nod was slow, sad. “I wish…” She stepped deeper into the room. “Is there anything I can do?”
“This is old news, Giulia,” I told her calmly. “It happened a long time ago.”
“Doesn’t mean it isn’t affecting you.” She nibbled on the inside of her cheek, sucking it in as she planted herself, without invitation, into my visitor’s chair. “I still have nightmares about Luke Lancaster, and he barely—”
“Don’t,” I bit off. “Don’t diminish what you went through. If anyone knows the miserable details, it’s me. We drafted your statement for the cops together, didn’t we?”
Giulia pursed her lips. “I wish I’d killed him.”
More laughter bubbled from me. I wasn’t sure if it came from a place of panic or if it was disbelief.
“It’s no wonder you and Nyx are so perfect for each other.”
A smile danced in her eyes, but it didn’t manifest anywhere else. “We’re bloodthirsty.”
Then, a thought occurred to me. “Wait—”
Giulia’s eyes met mine. “I didn’t kill Luke Lancaster.”
My mouth rounded. “What?” My shoulders straightened. “Who were you covering up for? It couldn’t have been Nyx. At the time of your attack, he was on a run to Canada.”
“I know he was.” She swallowed. “Guess it doesn’t matter who knows now. Seeing as Bear’s gone.”
“Bear? Bear killed Lancaster?” I sputtered.
“It isn’t much of a secret anymore—”
“Why keep it a secret at all?”
“Didn’t trust you at first; plus Bear asked me to keep it quiet.”
“Why?”
“Dunno. I got the feeling he wasn’t supposed to be in West Orange.”
I blinked, taken aback by the remark.
Bear had been in West Orange. But I’d only thought it was a quick visit. He’d come to arrange his…
God.
His will.
I didn’t react to the realization; it wasn’t my place to.
It was difficult though. So difficult.
He’d wanted to arrange the matters of his estate because he knew his death was coming…
He’d known he was diving headfirst into trouble.
Feeling like I’d swallowed my tongue, I attempted to change the subject to one I could handle right now. “Do you think it’d have made much of a difference if you’d killed him rather than Bear?”
Her words indicated that might be the case, but I didn’t see how it mattered.
Dead was dead, after all.
“I do. I’d have controlled it. I’d have the satisfaction of knowing he had tried to take me down but I got to him first.” Her mouth tautened as she stared at her knees. “It’d give me some comfort, you know?”
I didn’t. Not really.
“Anyway, I’m not here for that.”
“No, you’re here for Nyx—”
“Actually, he isn’t why I disturbed you either.”
“No?” I arched a disbelieving brow.
“No. Lily is.”
Blinking, I asked, “Link’s Lily?”
She nodded. “When Maverick was bad, Lily was handling the accounts.”
“I remember.”
“He’s taken some of the workload off her shoulders now that he’s better.”
“He shouldn’t have done that. CTE isn’t something you can take lightly.”
“Well, either way, he has. I was wondering if…”
“What?”
She blew out her cheeks. “Lily’s smart. Hella smart.”
“I’m sure she is.”
“Maybe she could help?”
“With what?”
Giulia shrugged. “Whatever has you working until eleven at night.”
My brow puckered. “I’m a lawyer. She isn’t.”
“Yeah, but I know you’re doing a lot of MC stuff, and that isn’t shit you’d ordinarily be doing in your capacity as the MC’s lawyer, is it?”
“Some of it is.”
“All of it?” she challenged.
“No,” I conceded.
She hummed. “Thought so. Anyway, just figured you wouldn’t think to look to the Old Ladies, but we’re not just cum buckets—”
My mouth rounded at that. “I never thought you were!”
"If you say so. Lily’s clever, and she’ll only hang around so much before she figures out what she wants to do with herself. I’m concerned…”
“What are you concerned about?” I asked when her words waned.
“That she’ll step away from our world, figure out that she doesn’t really belong here, and she’ll leave Link.”
“That’s a touch drastic, isn’t it?”
She sniffed. “Is it? Stone became a doctor and moved away for years. You’re a lawyer; you moved away and barely associate with the club unless it’s for business.
“However you look at it, Link doesn’t deserve that. He loves Lily, and he’d do anything for her. It’d kill him if she left because she couldn’t find a place, and that’s just not true. There’s plenty of shit to do for the MC, if they’d just let her.
“When Maverick was sick, she had a purpose. She was helping out while he was on the fritz, but now, well, she might have been raised to be a society wife, but we know that’s not her.”
I considered her. “I agree.”
She pursed her lips. “You do?”
“I do.”
“Why?”
I snorted. “Did you expect an argument?”
“Yes.”
Her simple answer had me shaking my head. “I know how smart Lily is.”
“Then why didn’t you ask her to help you out?”
“I just…” My mind went blank. “I didn’t think to.”
“Why not? Because she’s a cum bucket?”
I growled, “No, Giulia. Stop saying that. Hell, in another life, I’d have been an Old Lady. I’m certainly not a cum bucket.”
“Why another life? Why not this one?”
“Because Rex deserves better than a broken soul.”
Giulia scowled at me. “You really believe that?”
“I don’t believe it. I know it.” I stared her down. “But that isn’t something I wish to discuss. I didn’t ask her to help out because I never do.”
“Never do what?”
“Never ask for help.” I swallowed. “It’s not in my nature. I just get on with whatever I’m doing and continue until the task is complete.”
“Soldier mentality.” She tapped her chin. “Or is that martyr complex?”
I glowered at her. “Are you trying to annoy me?”
“Is it working?” She smirked. “Anyway, you’ll call Lily? Give her some shit to do? Don’t make it really easy stuff or she’ll get offended.
"My girl’s brilliant. Her talents are wasting away, Rachel. The guys have all learned business on the streets, you know? She’s been trained.
“Their instincts are solid, but she’s had an Ivy League education that’ll only take the MC to an even higher level. Why waste that? It’s a fucking shame not to take advantage of all those smarts.”
She wasn’t wrong.
The business side of the MC wasn’t something that had ever intrigued me, which was fortunate as I was only their lawyer. My specialty was criminal law, but I’d done enough corporate courses and had some accreditation that meant I could act on their behalf in a business capacity.
My field of advice was limited.
The MC really was missing out by not getting her on board.
How very myopic of me, Rex, and the rest of the council.
“You’re right,” I said softly. “I’ll contact her today.”
When I thought about the minefield of this week, I wanted to groan.
I could have done with some help but I genuinely hadn’t thought about reaching out.
“Good. You know her ma was a Lindenbourg, don’t you?”
Quirking a brow, I shook my head. “I didn’t know that.”
The Lindenbourgs were American royalty.
Jesus, Link was boning a Lindenbourg?
No wonder Giulia was worried about Lily leaving. I loved Link, but God, the Lindenbourgs were Lindenbourgs.