Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Wilder
Ithink I could stare at Marie forever, and never get tired of it.
“Hey, stalker,” Storm hisses. “Let her finish fixing her hair. Get out of the bedroom before you stress her out.”
“I was hiding,” I sigh, crawling out the door before she can see me.
“Hello?” Marie calls out, making me glare up at Storm.
“Oops,” he mutters, pretending to kick me.
The bond between us feels anything but repentant, and I roll my eyes as I get up and quickly dash for the stairs. The last thing I want to do is stress Marie out. This is supposed to be a fun trip out to lunch.
We’re actually going to a place near the gentlemen’s club I’m renting out while the MC comes into town. It’s not a club that’s the type to have girls dancing. To my understanding, it’s more cigar smoking and back room deals.
Basically, mafia shit.
I want to swing by there after we have lunch to ensure everything is handled. I don’t want to worry that I’m not going to have the space and then be screwed over.
I’m also very nervous about explaining to our guys that Lore is actually alive. Fuck. I think a soft launch of that information may be necessary…
Hey guys, guess what?
I snort in derision, and Storm bumps against me as we arrive at the bottom of the stairs.
“I’m overthinking all of this, huh?” I mutter.
“Not really,” Storm says. “Let’s take it to Lore. You don’t have to make these decisions anymore.”
“Thank fuck for that,” I confess.
Lore is taking up the slack at a remarkable rate, and now all I have to do is follow his lead. It’s almost like what I did before, except I’m also his mouthpiece for now. I know the time is finite, I just have to toe the line until he is strong enough to appear to be invincible again.
That’s why we’re projecting the meet up to be toward the end of the month. It’ll give him a few more weeks to heal his wounds without Ransom yelling at him to sit the fuck down. Lore’s hand has got to be feeling a bit twitchy, but now, there’s nothing he can fucking do about it.
“Where is he?” I ask, not hearing his voice.
“He’s in the basement, smoking,” Storm says, rolling his eyes.
Lore tries not to smoke where Marie will be able to smell it. She gives him hell for it.
“Fantastic,” I sigh, walking to the door and yanking it open.
More fucking stairs.
“What do people even do with their basements?” I muse. “Right now, we’ve been using it to hold our renovation shit.”
“I was looking at that actually,” he says.
“We could turn this into an in-home gym so we don’t have to leave the house.
We don’t really need a theater when we have that comfortable as fuck couch in the living room.
We can also put in a safe room, and a room that we can turn into a play room in the future.
Once we have rugrats, the nest’s openness could be an issue.
We’ll need to install a door that locks and arrange for childcare during that time. ”
“Damn, you really have been thinking about this. No, this is good,” I admit. “The basement is huge. There is room for all three things. A safe room, a gym, a playroom, and maybe a secret closet for a gun safe that can only be opened by a thumbprint.”
“I like that. Okay, that’s what we’ll do then. Not all of this needs to be right away, but the gun closet is a great idea before we bring babies into the world. Right now, we have weapons fucking velcroed under the tables. That’s not going to be possible once we have little people toddling around.”
“Do we have any leads on enemies we may have?” Lore asks, smoking in the dark out an open window. Even though there are a few windows that peek out to the street level, lighting is low down here.
“Not a peep yet,” I admit. “Toad is still taunting Devon, but he doesn’t know all his old cronies are dead. The club is keeping that under wraps.”
“Toad is still banned from the clubhouse,” Ransom adds, drawing my attention in his direction.
Due to the bond, I knew he was there, but it’s as if he just appeared otherwise. It’s difficult not to flinch even with what I know.
And they call Lore the ghost. That’s amusing.
“I doubt that’ll last as long as we’d like,” Storm grunts.
“What’s on your mind?” Lore asks.
“Your resurrection,” I say before realizing what that sounds like. “I mean—”
“I know what you meant,” Lore snorts. “I wasn’t dead for three days, only a couple of minutes. No need to be dramatic.”
Growling fills the basement, and I realize it’s not just me, but also Ransom and Storm.
“Bad joke,” Lore apologizes. “Do you want to announce sooner?”
Lore’s wearing a long sleeved black shirt with his jeans today, but I can tell he’s still moving stiffly.
“No,” I say quickly, almost too much so. “It’s something else. I think we should have a smaller meeting before we tell the entire club.”
“This way there are already supporters before we announce it,” Storm adds.
“It could get ugly because of how sick Marie was,” Ransom explains.
“I still kick my own ass every day for that,” Lore mutters. “What about having Back Alley Pussy, Burner, and Arsenal over?”
My lips twitch at Nick’s road name, but his choices are ones I’d suggest as well. Nick’s also good at getting the club to see things his way, for better or worse.
“He insisted on introducing himself as Nick,” I say, smirking.
“Well, he’s right. Marie can’t fucking call him by his road name,” Lore replies. “He’s got a good head on his shoulders. I might not get shot at by the three of them when we tell them.”
“The club misses you,” I admit. “I’m a very poor substitute, no matter what they tell me.”
“While I appreciate that, I also know they’d continue to support you until you found your feet,” he says. “Extend the invitation, even if you decide to tell them Marie wants to see them.”
“Well, they definitely like her better than us,” I chuckle. “Marie is almost ready. She’s doing some weird thing to her hair so it’ll curl better.”
“I don’t know what half the products in the bathroom are,” Ransom says. “I just know she thinks they make her pretty, so I just smile and nod since she’s always gorgeous to me.”
“A very truthful statement, even if you are smitten,” Lore says. “I don’t blame you, as you’re in very good company.”
“Fuck, I’ve been meaning to do this,” I groan. “I want to complete the bond so we’re on even footing.”
“Why now?” he asks. “Maybe I don’t want to bite you assholes.”
“Ransom,” Lore groans, finishing his cigarette. “Do you have to be a pain in the ass about everything?”
“Only when I’m highly motivated to be a brat,” he replies.
“You’ve proven that you’re not fucking around,” I say, willing to fall on my dick for this. “Marie and our pack are end game for you.”
“Mmhmm,” Ransom says.
“Fucking brat,” Storm growls.
“Talk dirty to me, Daddy. I like it,” Ransom sasses, coming closer.
“Make me a list of gym supplies to order, and I’ll let you suck my cock while I work,” Storm replies, making Ransom groan. “I don’t play fair, baby boy. You’re not ready for my level of competitiveness.”
“I don’t mind losing if it’s for the right reasons,” Ransom admits, taking my outstretched arm.
“I’ll take that….fuck me,” I hiss as he bites my bicep. Shit, I wasn’t expecting him to go that high up. It’s just shy of some ink I have, and I can tell that when it heals, it’ll look like part of the tattoo.
Fucker did that on purpose.
“Now, I’m going to make sure you taste me for days when you suck me off,” Storm mutters, yanking Ransom to him once his teeth are away from my arm.
The brat simply grins, and bites Storm’s inner arm like a good boy. Dick.
I can feel the bond sliding into place, and it’s like another piece of me is complete. As much of a pain as he is, Ransom is a damn good alpha, and fits really well with us. He really just wants to make Marie happy.
“I’ll call Arsenal later and tell him about coming over beforehand. He’ll be happy to see Marie,” I say.
“I don’t like to share,” Lore grumbles, putting out the last of his cigarette as I chuckle.
“We’re leaving soon. Figure out your shit so you’re not in trouble,” I reply instead.
The bite is no longer bleeding, but I head upstairs to clean it up anyway. It’s cold today, so I keep moving up to the bedroom where Marie is adding a swipe of deep red lipstick to her lips. Some people may think it’s too early in the day for a color like that, but she looks fucking gorgeous.
She’s wearing her riding pants, boots, a deep v-neck lightweight green sweater, and her makeup looks flawless. She pulled her curls under a silk bandana for the road, which is a smart move for how windy it can get on the bike.
“Wow,” I rasp, stopping as I gaze at her.
“I’ll take the bandana off at lunch, but my curls will be a wreck otherwise,” she explains with a shy grin.
“You look beautiful,” I say, forcing myself to take my eyes off her as I pull off my cut.
Placing it carefully on the bed, I walk into the closet to find a black sweatshirt to put on over my shirt.
“Someone needs to tell Minnesota to pump the brakes on their weather. Someone said we’ll have snow before Halloween this year. ”
“You know the Midwest makes its own rules,” she says with a laugh. “It may even be sooner.”
“So ridiculous,” I grumble, fixing my clothes in the mirror before pulling my cut back on. “Ready?”
“I am,” she says, taking my hand as we leave the bedroom.
We chat as we walk, and Lore is waiting for us when we get to the front door. I’m not sure what he did, but I can’t smell any smoke. He may have figured out how to keep his bad habit a secret for now.
Unlike me, he didn’t bother with the sweatshirt, but I want to make sure I’m warm enough for Marie to snuggle against. Lore is going to ride my ass to make sure we’re always together as well since their bond has a mind of its own. I don’t need her to fall off the bike.
“Let’s go, Ghost,” I snort, grabbing Marie’s jacket.