Chapter 5
MARCUS
Because nothing is ever secret when it comes to the Shadow Vipers, Marcus wasn’t surprised to see Lucas and Ace sitting on the front steps when he and Gavin pulled into his driveway.
Throwing the car into park, Marcus let out a growl as if that would chase off the pests currently lingering around, trying to act all innocent and not like the Nosy Housewives of Baton, New Mexico.
“What are you idiots doing here?” Marcus asked as he opened the car door and stepped out.
Ace looked up, startled, as if he hadn’t noticed the gray, beat-up car that had just pulled up into the driveway of his old house.
“Oh! Hey, big brother. What are you doing home? I thought you had… oh!” Ace stood and slapped his forehead as if he had just remembered something. “I forgot, you had the thing… with the guy… in the place.”
Rounding the car, Marcus nodded at his idiotic brother and the ever-smiling little elf currently standing behind Ace.
“Gavin, this is Ace, my nosy gay brother, and his sidekick, Sir Sucks Dick-a-Lot.”
“Also known as Lucas,” Lucas said, stepping forward and offering his hand. “Is it true you're going to be staying with this ogre for the foreseeable future?” Lucas asked, still keeping Ace a safe distance between him and Marcus.
“And also, why am I introduced as the ‘gay’ brother?” Ace asked as if he were annoyed by the colorful introduction.
Marcus walked past Ace and Lucas, nodding for Gavin to follow him.
“Oh, I accused him of being homophobic earlier, so he’s trying to prove to me that he does in fact have a gay brother, and a gay brother's gay best friend, and a whole other queer ensemble.”
Ace chuckled. “Please. Once, someone called me a faggot in high school, and Marcus and his friends kicked the shit out of the guy. Did he tell you I’m married to one of his best friends?
” Ace asked, throwing his arm around Gavin’s shoulder while Lucas linked his arm through Gavin’s.
The three walked up the walkway, looking like the Lollipop Guild on its way to visit Dorothy.
“And I told him how much I want to shoot Blade in the face, which has nothing to do with the dick-sucking,” Marcus grumbled as he entered the house.
“He’s still adjusting to the whole ‘friend fucking his little bro’ thing,” he heard Ace say to Gavin outside.
“Can you please get inside before someone sees you. You’re supposed to be hiding out, remember?” Marcus barked.
“Ooh,” Ace and Lucas chirped as they picked up their pace, sandwiching Gavin between them.
It was just after seven p.m., so it was time to start making something for dinner.
What do vegetarians eat?
He didn’t have any rabbit food, and the last of his lettuce died a tragic death in the bottom of his crisper.
Seriously, why do people use that damn thing? It’s basically a portal to another dimension where food disappears once you buy it, then magically reappears months later, brown, sad, and missing a life force.
He needed to stop buying lettuce. He always had good intentions of eating healthier, but let’s be honest, his diet mainly consisted of chicken, steak, and protein shakes. Oh, and whiskey.
What more did a solid biker need?
“Okay, I don’t have any plant food here, but I can order us a pizza with… what? Tomatoes? Grapes? Cucumbers? What do vegetarians put on their disgusting pizza?” Marcus asked, pulling his cell from his back pocket.
“How about you dial, and I’ll place the order?” Gavin offered, giving him a knowing smile.
“Sure. Order me an all-meat pizza, large, and whatever these nosy Bettys want to eat.”
The gossip queens cheered as Marcus went to the bar to fix them all a few drinks. Ace and Lucas would want their sangrias. Damn. For that, he would need to head to the kitchen.
An hour later, they were plowing through the pizzas and halfway through their second pitcher of sangria, with Marcus enjoying his whiskey.
“Okay, so give us the details. Who are you, and what’s going on?” Ace asked, sitting cross-legged on the floor as he looked up at Gavin, who was sitting on the couch next to Lucas.
“Gavin, you don’t need to disclose anything you don’t want to. I’m here to protect you. You don’t owe us anything.” Marcus jumped in before Gavin could start.
Ace gave his brother a dirty look.
“There isn’t much to tell. As your brother said, he’s here to protect me and keep me safe from some serial killer who is trying to murder me.”
Both Ace’s and Lucas’s mouths dropped open. They stared at Gavin without saying a word.
“We. Need. More. Information,” Ace said, jumping up from the floor and squeezing between Lucas and Gavin.
Marcus tried not to laugh.
“Okay, okay, start from the beginning,” Ace gushed, linking his arm through Gavin’s and staring at him like they were on some kind of daytime talk show.
Gavin glanced over at Marcus, who just shrugged his shoulders.
“Well, this guy asked me out and took me to this fancy restaurant I love, called Restaurante Piccolo. Everything started off so normal. He was nice, attentive, and we had so much in common.”
“Except for the murder thing, I’m guessing?” Lucas jumped in.
Gavin nodded with a half smile. “After dinner, we went back to his place, and that’s when everything changed. He drugged my wine, then attacked me. He basically told me that he was the Valentine Killer and that he was going to murder me.”
Ace and Lucas both gasped, throwing their hands over their mouths and looking like they had just lived through the ordeal themselves.
“Oh my god! Are you okay?” they both asked, reaching for Gavin and giving him a supportive squeeze.
“Easy there, big guys,” Marcus said. “The guy’s fine. He’s a fighter. And now he’s here with us, under the protection of the Shadow Vipers.”
“Yes! That’s right. My brother’s crew will protect you and keep you safe,” Ace added.
“We’ll find this motherfucker and end his ass!” Lucas finished off with.
Okay, things were starting to spiral here.
“Alright, my little fighter cranes, there will be no hunting of the serial killer and definitely no ending of his ass. We are on protection detail only. The Colorado Police have their very own task force and are looking into the matter as we speak. Hopefully, they will have the guy in custody in a few days. Then Gavin can go back to his old life, and Lucas can stop thinking of ways to murder people.”
“God, when did your brother become such a stiff?” Lucas asked Ace as if he wasn’t even in the room.
Shaking his head, Marcus stood.
“As far as the rest of the Vipers know, Gavin is just a witness the sheriff has asked us to protect. We don’t want people in town knowing that he’s connected to the Valentine murders, so keep that info to yourselves.”
Marcus looked at both Ace and Lucas, who both looked like they had swallowed a canary.
The little shits.
“This means not telling Blade or Caden. Got it?” Marcus growled.
“You want us to lie to our significant others?” Ace asked, acting all dramatic and shocked to his core.
“You’re not lying. You’re following a direct order from your leader.” Marcus gave him a smirk. He knew the argument was now over. He rarely played the “I’m the leader” card, but when he did, he expected absolute obedience.
Ace’s mouth dropped open. “You. Bastard.”
“Same goes for you, Lucas.”
The man nodded without making eye contact.
The weakling would fold the second he got home to Caden.
It was time for bed.
“Gavin, your bedroom is at the end of that hallway. It’s Ace’s old room. Ace, Lucas, you’re welcome to stay the night here on the couch or go home to your husbands or whatever you call them. I don’t care. I’m going to bed. Good night, Gavin.”
“Good night, Marcus. And thanks for everything today.”
That caught Marcus off guard. He’d been expecting something a little more sarcastic, like “Thank you for kidnapping me today,” or perhaps, “Eat my ass and die, asshole.” That seemed a bit more appropriate than a sincere thank-you.
“It’s no problem at all,” Marcus huffed, refusing to turn around and acknowledge the boy’s kindness. He continued on to his room.