9. Mack
9
MACK
G igi comes out of her bedroom the next morning looking like she can barely keep her eyes open. She yawns and rakes a hand through her bedhead hair as she half-stumbles into the kitchen. “Is that bacon I smell?”
I point at the coffee pot. “Coffee’s on. Have a cup while I finish making breakfast. Eggs, bacon, toast. Scrambled okay?”
“Sure. Did I actually have all of that stuff?” Gigi frowns as she reaches into the cupboard for a mug. “I don’t remember buying any of it except the eggs.”
“The bacon and bread were in the freezer.”
“Wow. Go me.” Gigi takes her steaming mug of coffee to the kitchen table and sits down. “It smells amazing. I was hoping for cold cereal for breakfast, if my milk hadn’t expired.”
“I thought you knew how to cook.”
“I do, sort of. I didn’t know you did, though.”
I push a spatula through the eggs. “I picked up some stuff from Reenie when I was a kid. She told me she didn’t want me being helpless like Choppa when I grew up.”
Gigi snickers. “Hard to think of Choppa being helpless.”
“In the kitchen, he definitely is. The old man would probably starve to death if my mom didn’t feed him.”
I serve us up two plates of eggs and then watch in amusement as Gigi devours hers, plus three pieces of bacon and two pieces of toast smothered with grape jelly. She sucks down two cups of coffee, too. When she’s finished, she leans back and sighs happily. “That was amazing. I feel almost human.”
“You didn’t look too hot when you got up. You sleep okay?”
Gigi’s face flushes. “Yeah, fine.”
“So, what you got going on today?”
“Just some errands this morning, and a bridal shower later.”
“A bridal shower?” I laugh. “Like, to attend, or to do tattoos?”
“It’s a job. I guess everyone in the bridal party all want to get matching tattoos.”
“Okay. Get ready and I’ll drive you around on your errands.”
“Mack, I don’t think this bodyguard gig means you have to be my chauffeur, too,” Gigi objects. “I can drive myself around just fine.”
I cross my arms in front of my chest. “Uh-uh. Absolutely not. You know better than that. I go where you go. And if I’m going where you’re going, there’s no use you driving and me following behind you. We’ll take my truck.”
She blows out an irritated breath. “I’m not gonna win this one, am I? Okay, fine. You win.”
“When do you wanna get going?”
“I need a shower, and then some time to get ready. Maybe an hour?”
“Okay, you take the bathroom first. Don’t spend an eternity in there. I need to take a shit.”
Gigi rolls her eyes. “Charming. And sure, women are the ones who hog the bathroom. Let’s ignore the fact that there’s not a straight man in existence who doesn’t need at least thirty minutes to poop.”
I snort. “Fair.”
Gigi goes to shower while I clean up the breakfast dishes. I take a shower after her. She comes out to the living room looking hot yet casual at the same time, in a pair of denim cut-offs that mold to her ass distractingly. “You all set?” she asks, grabbing her bag and keys.
“Sure thing. Let me text Fury quick, let him know what we’re up to.”
But once we’re outside, we don’t get very far.
Because the first thing we notice is that someone has slashed the tires to the Body Bus.
“Fuck!” she cries. “I can’t believe this. When the hell could they have done this?”
Inwardly, I curse myself for letting this happen on my watch. “Must’ve been last night while we were sleeping. I didn’t hear a damn thing, though. They were pretty fucking quiet about it.”
Gigi throws up her hands. “Dammit, Mack! Do you have any idea how much it’s gonna cost to have all four tires replaced?” She looks at me ruefully. “Scratch that, of course you would. This sucks,” she finishes glumly. “I can’t afford this right now.”
Luckily, this is something I can take care of without much hassle. “Don’t worry, G. Let me handle it. Go back in the house and chill out.”
“But —”
I give her a stern look and point toward the house. “Not takin’ no for an answer. Go.”
As Gigi retreats, I take out my phone and snap some photos of the damaged tired, then send them to Fury and Magnus. A few seconds later, Fury calls in a rage. “What the fuck?”
“Someone slashed her tires during the night,” I say.
“Goddamnit!”
“Yeah. Look, I’m gonna call Rusty, see if he can get over here this morning with some new tires.” Rusty is a mechanic and friend of the MC. “He owes me about a dozen favors by now, so it shouldn’t be a problem to get this taken care of.”
Sure as shit, I call Rusty and he arrives about an hour later with a set of new tires for the bus. Together, we replace the slashed ones, while Gigi watches from her front steps.
“How much do I owe him?” she asks me as Rusty is packing up.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s taken care of.”
“Mack…” she begins, but I’m not having it.
“Subject closed,” I say firmly.
“You’re a pain in the ass,” she mutters.
“You’re welcome. Now go get your shit and let’s go run your errands and get you back in time for your job.”
Later that day, Gigi’s got her bus parked out in front of a swanky-looking McMansion, and she’s set up in the backyard of the place, doing matching tattoos for the bridal shower under a party tent set up for the purpose. I’m staked out in a wooded area not too far away, invisible to everyone but close enough that I’m here in case anything bad happens. Gigi doesn’t need a rough-looking biker making all these women nervous with my presence. But I’m still close enough that I can watch Gigi interact with them. It’s weird to see her schmoozing with her clients so naturally, with her being so prickly in general. She’s even put on a dress for the occasion, a pale green sundress that bares her shoulders and gives her a soft, feminine look. She’s got a way with people, I have to admit. I guess it’s because she really loves her work. She’s really in her element doing stuff like this. It looks like she’s having a great time.
But then, about halfway through the shower, she pulls out her phone to check it after finishing one of the bridesmaids’ tattoos. She studies the screen, and in that moment I can almost see her physically deflate. I think she glances over at me, but I can’t be sure. She types something and then shoves the phone back into her pocket, all color draining from her face.
I want to jog over and ask her what’s up, but instead, I phone her.
“What’s up?” I ask when she answers.
Gigi glances over toward me. “I just got a text… from Blaze.”
“What? How’s that possible? How the fuck did he get your number?”
“I have no idea. I don’t like this, Mack.”
“What did the asshole say?”
Instead of answering me, she hangs up and then sends me a screen shot of their conversation:
This is Blaze. U ready to go on that date with me yet?
Fuck off. Lose this number.
Ur gonna be sorry u said that u fuckin bitch
Jesus Christ. That piece of shit is probably too dumb to find Gigi’s number on his own, but their MC has gotta have a tech guy like we do. This guy ain’t letting it go. What the fuck is up with his obsession with her?
I call Gigi back, but she doesn’t get a chance to answer, because the next woman in the bridal party has come up for her tattoo. The convo will have to wait.
Gigi keeps working the shower, but her demeanor has completely changed. She barely talks to any of the women, just keeps her head down and focuses on doing their matching ink. It’s like night and day, like she’s been replaced by an identical twin with an entirely different personality.
When she’s finished up the last tattoo, I come around to the front to help her pack up her bus. She’s still not talking, and I don’t press her to. I brought my truck here, so I follow behind her bus as she drives away from the shower. But instead of going straight back to her house, she pulls off the road into a parking lot and stops.
I climb out of my truck and go up to the driver’s side, waiting until she’s rolled down her window. “How you doing?” I ask her.
“Not so great,” she admits. Her face is pinched and tense.
“You’re okay, G. Nothing’s gonna happen to you while I’m around.”
“Are you sure?” she whispers.
And suddenly, the tough-as-nails girl I’ve always known bursts into tears.
“Well, shit,” I murmur, opening her door. “Come on now. It’s gonna be okay.” I reach over her to unbuckle her seat belt, and then pull her out of the bus and into a hug. “I’m sure. Look, if you want, we can get you a new phone and number.”
“I can’t do that.” Her chin wobbles. “I have to keep this number. It’s on all my business stuff. Besides, he’d just find that number, too.”
My chest gets tight. Shit, I hate seeing her so miserable like this. “Hey. Look.” I put a finger under her chin, lifting her face so she’s looking up at me. “You’re gonna be fine. He’s just trying to get under your skin. That motherfucker’s too chicken-shit to try anything more than throwing a rock through your window or slashing your tires when you’re not around.”
But it turns out, that’s not quite true.
I get Gigi settled back into the bus and follow her back to her place. On the way, I hear a siren off in the distance. But I don’t think anything much of it until we pull into her street and see the smoke. “Jesus fuck!” I shout.
Gigi’s fucking house is on fire.
Gigi slams to a stop in the middle of the street. A second later, she’s out of the bus and running toward her place. I throw my truck into park and fly out the driver’s side in pursuit of her. “Gigi!” I yell.
“Tedward is in there!” she screams.
Oh, fuck. The cat.
I sprint toward her, overtaking her and tackling her to the ground in her neighbor’s front yard. “Stop!” I shout as she writhes under me. “I’ll go. Stay here!”
In a heartbeat I’m back up and running. Her front door is locked, so I grab a large rock from her front landscaping and heave it through her front picture window. This time I’m the one throwing the rock . Gigi is shouting behind me as I bash the shards out of the bottom part of the frame and climb inside.
“Ted!” I start calling, already coughing from the smoke. The fire seems to be coming from the back of the house by the kitchen. I send up a prayer to the almighty that Ted’s not back there, and start searching through the house. I finally find the cat under Gigi’s bed, cowering in a far corner. He scratches the shit out of me, but I manage to haul him out. Grabbing a blanket from the bed, I wrap him up like a terrified burrito. Crashing back through the living room, I make it out the front door just as the first fire truck arrives.
“Ted!” Gigi sobs as I deposit the cat in her arms. She buries her face in his fur. “Oh my god, Ted, you’re okay…”
Not knowing what else to do, I wrap an arm around Gigi and lead her away as she continues to cry. We sit down on the curb across the street from the fiery scene in front of us, and watch numbly as the firefighters work against the blaze. From next door, a woman and her kid come out to make sure Gigi’s okay. She introduces them to me as Carrie Ann and London. Carrie Ann looks a little wary of me until Gigi tells her I’m her brother’s best friend. After that, she seems a little more willing to talk to me.
“Did you see who did this?” I ask her.
Carrie Ann’s eyes grow wide. “Oh my god, was this arson ?”
“I think it might be,” I say. “And I think I might know who did it, too.”
Carrie Ann shakes her head frantically. “No, not at all. I didn’t hear or see anything. But London and I were down in the basement. I have a craft room down there. We were making invitations for her birthday party that’s coming up. My mom’s in her room taking a nap. Do you want me to wake her?”
“No, that’s okay. Look, can you just hang out here with Gigi for a sec? I need to make a phone call.”
I call Fury and tell him about the fire. I let him know Gigi’s not gonna be able to live here for a while. And we make some decisions on what to do next.
I get back to Gigi, and Carrie Ann takes London back to their place. “This is only going to get worse, isn’t it?” Gigi murmurs, her face half-buried in Tedward’s fur. “He’s not going to leave me alone.”
“He’s gonna leave you alone, all right. The club’s gonna see to that.”
Gigi looks like she wants to ask me how, but thinks better of it. “What am I gonna do?” she finally says, looking defeated and dejected. “My landlord is gonna be furious, Mack. Even though it wasn’t me who set the fire, the house is gutted all the same. What if he evicts me?”
“He’s gotta have insurance. He’ll file a claim and get the place fixed up. Meantime, you know you can’t live here now, right?”
“But I don’t have anywhere else to go!” she wails. “Connor and Kat don’t have room for me at their place. And I wouldn’t accept even if they did. I can’t have this target on my back and go live in a house with a little baby.”
“That’s not where you’re going,” I reply. “You’re moving into the MC compound. Effective immediately.”
“I can’t live at an MC clubhouse,” she protests.
“The hell you can’t. It’s where you’ll be safest. And I’m gonna be there, too. Until further notice, I’m staying at the club as well, to keep an eye on you.”
“But…”
“No buts, G. This shit is serious now. It’s okay. We’ll get through this.”
We. Yeah.
As long as G is going through this, I’m gonna fuckin’ be here to get her through it.