Chapter 23
XANTHE
After work, I drive straight to the clubhouse. Ghost isn’t there, so I text him, and he replies, telling me to wait for him and he’ll be there in half an hour.
“Ghost just went somewhere with Prez,” Bones says from where he’s sitting at the bar when I glance around the empty room.
“Where is everyone?” I ask, sitting down next to him.
He shrugs and looks into his glass. “At work or with their families.”
“Where’s Skull?” I ask, and he goes quiet for a moment.
“He and Isla have taken Natalia to the animal farm.”
“You didn’t want to go?” I press, trying to figure out where his head is at.
“They need their time alone,” is all he says, turning and staring at me with those blue eyes. With his longish blond hair and killer smile, Bones is one good-looking man. He reminds me of a certain character from a very popular biker show.
“You want a drink?”
“It’s four o’clock,” I remind him, my lip twitching. “And I just came from working at a primary school all day. It seems wrong somehow.”
He laughs and gives my clothing a once-over. “You look like a little librarian today.”
I look down at my black pencil skirt and white blouse. “Is that good or bad?”
He grins, running his fingers over the stubble on his cheeks. “Let’s just say that the second Ghost gets here, he’s going to drag you to his room.”
“He does that no matter what I’m wearing,” I mutter, and he laughs.
“You’re good for him,” he says, nodding to himself.
“Is everything okay with you, Bones? You know you can talk to me about anything.”
It’s a gamble to open this discussion with him. He could very well walk away, play it off, or deny that there’s anything going on with him, but I sense that there is.
His brother found his old lady, and now, for the first time in his life, Bones isn’t connected at the hip to his twin. That has to hurt.
“I’ll be fine, sweetheart, but thank you,” he murmurs, reaching out and touching my shoulder.
“If you don’t want to talk to me, I know a good psychologist. She’s a great listener. I can book you to see her. Her name is Meredith.”
He stands up and lowers his face to kiss me on the forehead. “Thank you, Xanthe, but I’m okay. Really.”
I pushed him too far.
Ghost suddenly steps into the room, taking in the two of us. Surprised hurt flickers over his face.
We’re close enough that it’s clear we’ve been having a moment. “What’s going on? You okay, sunshine?”
“I’m fine. Just having a chat with Bones.”
Bones steps away slowly, putting space between us, while Ghost clocks his every move, like a hunter watching his prey.
“I can’t think of any situation where you need to be that close to my old lady with no one else around,” Ghost seethes, a deep, hot rumble in his throat. “I never knew you had a death wish, but I’m happy to oblige.”
There’s a look in his eyes that scares me. It’s one I’ve never seen before.
“Ghost,” I murmur, standing up and walking toward him. When I reach him, I wrap my arms around his waist. His body is frozen still, and his arms don’t come around me. “We were just talking.”
He still doesn’t look at me, his eyes locked on to Bones.
“Ghost, look at me,” I say gently, reaching up and pulling his face down to me. His gray eyes finally lock on to mine, and the shadows start to clear. He blinks slowly and takes a deep breath.
“Come on, let’s go,” I say, taking his hand and leading him up the stairs. It’s only in this moment that I realize what his brothers have been telling me.
Only I can calm him.
He would never hurt me, and I know this, but I don’t think I can say the same for them.
When we step into his room, I push him back onto the bed, and he easily lets me straddle him. “Bones isn’t himself. I was trying to get him to talk about it. Or go and see a therapist—”
Ghost’s eyebrows rise. “You told Bones to go see a therapist? Little one, he’s a biker. He’s not going to go and see a fucking shrink.”
“What is he going to do then?”
Ghost shrugs. “Drink and fuck and make bad decisions for a while, and then he’ll sort it out and get over it.”
I don’t think you get over the kind of change that comes with losing your twin to a woman, but I don’t bother saying that. Not to mention Isla is now Natalia’s mother, so it’s like they are a perfect family while Bones is on the outside.
And they don’t know who the actual father is, so Natalia could very well be Bones’ daughter.
What a complicated situation.
“You know you don’t have to worry about me. I’d never betray you, Ghost. Your brothers are becoming my brothers, and I care for them in that way.”
His arms come around me, his fingers rubbing in soothing circles. “I know. I don’t like seeing any of them touch you. I can’t handle it.”
“My possessive man,” I mutter, leaning down to kiss his lips. “I’m in love with you, but I’m also going to love everyone you’ve given me as a family.”
“I know,” he rasps, threading his fingers through my hair to cup the back of my head. “Now, are you going to let me fuck you or keep talking about my brothers? Because that outfit you have on has had me hard since I walked into that room.”
I grin and pull off my blouse.